Road to Redemption
by serpentrequiem
Summary: Shino is an orphan boy and like many of people his age, he has the desire to be a hero, but his reason is unlike any other. Follow him as he walks the path to becoming a hero with all of that path's twists and hurdles and meets new people that will change his life and in turn, he will change theirs. OC-centric.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey guys this serpentrequiem and this is my first fanfic ever and I don't have a talent as writer but after reading many of the great stories on this site I decided to try to bring my ideas to life. All criticism is welcomed as I try to improve myself. Anyway I hope you enjoy.**

**Of course, I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. And any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 1**

The story begins with a boy waking up from what looks like a very short sleep. He starts scanning the small room looking for something until his eyes lock on the clock and the calendar next to it, the clock read 4:30AM which was his normal waking hour, he then smiles.

"The day is finally here huh." he says as he jumps out the barely fitting bed and into the bathroom to start his morning routine.

This is Shinohara Kazushige, a 15 year old orphan boy with golden curly hair tied to a small knot at the end of his head, blue eyes, and a goal shared by many kids throughout the world, to become a hero, and today is the day he puts his feet on the road to achieve this goal, today is the U.A. entrance exam.

As he starts washing his face and brushing his teeth his blue eyes look in the mirror and he notices that he was shirtless exposing his body full of scars of different shapes and sizes, this causes him to frown and look down at his feet for a minute before he takes a deep breath and when he releases it the look of sadness in his eyes changes to a look of determination. After he is finished brushing his teeth he does some workouts using the weights he has then changes into his black tracksuit and went for his morning jog around the block.

As he walked out to the streets he looked back at the orphanage he now calls home remembering the first day he came here after the incident and as he started running he has a warm smile on his face.

After about 30 minutes he returned from his jog and checked the watch on his phone to see that it was now 5:10AM, and so he went to take a quick shower, wore one of his long-sleeved shirts, then proceeded to prepare breakfast. He did not have to do it as there was a caretaker named Maria who was responsible of taking care of the small orphanage but he loved cooking and wanted to help as much as possible, so he convinced her that he will take care of the food-making while she can do the rest.

After he finished cooking and prepared the table as it was now 6:00AM, so he went to a bell that was hanged at the ceiling of a long corridor with room on both sides and started knocking it hard while screaming "WAKE UP YOU SLOWPOKES, YOUR WASTING PRECIOUS DAYLIGHT." and when he heard the groans and the loud response "FINE JUST STOP THE RINGING WE'RE AWAKE ALREADY." he smiled a malicious smile and said "NOT UNTILL I SEE THOSE FACES OF YOURS OUT AND HEADING TO THE BATHROOMS." As he kept knocking the bell to the displeasure of the kids he heard a voice behind him. "Good morning Shino." which caused him to stop knocking and turn around towards the source. In front of him stood an elderly short woman with shaggy gray hair and brown eyes and a small smile on her face.

Shino's sweat dropped "Oh, good morning mother I see you're awake".

The old lady now named Mother kept her smile as she approached Shino with an intimidating aura surrounding her as the later started stepping back with his hands raised in front of him to defend himself.

"And whose fault do you think it is?"

"Uh, the universe?" was the golden-haired boy's answer which earned him a punch on the head from the elderly woman.

"DON'T MISS WITH ME YOU BRAT, HOW MANY TIME HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO USE THE DAMN BELL AS AN ALARM?" asked Mother.

"About 256 times." answered Shino.

"AND YET YOU KEEP DONING IT".

"But it's easier this way."

The elder woman sighed, she was at the end of her rope and didn't know what to do with the boy smiling at her.

But before she could yell at him some more, the sound of multiple footsteps was heard as a group of children approached the two "Are you fighting again?" said one of the boys that had a horn on top of his head the skin between his fingers "Because if so then we will eat without you." and as the children walked away Shino called to them "Aren't going to help our big brother?" but they turned around and said all at the same time "You brought this on yourself big bro." then continued to walk towards the dining room leaving a betrayed and defeated Shino on the ground "My own brothers and sisters turned on me." As he sniffed and fake cried "Oh get a hold of yourself and come we need to eat." Was Mother's response to his act.

"You're no fun you know that" Shino pouted as he followed the rest of his family.

Despite how loud they were a moment ago the family of orphans and their mother and caretaker ate their breakfast in relative silence only making small talk discussing their eldest brother's upcoming exams this day "So, today is the day of the exam huh, are you ready? And what about work?" asked Mother "Yeah I feel ready, the written part is not a problem, let's just hope they don't overdo it in the practical. Also I already posted that I'm taking a break." answered Shino while taking a bite of his pancake "Don't worry big bro with your quirk it's going to be a breeze, I mean the ability to turn things to gold and control said gold is awesome." said one of the girls on the other side of the table and was followed by shouts and nodes of approval from the rest of the kids "Aww thanks guys don't worry I'll enter U.A. and make you proud. Speaking of which, I'm going to get ready to head out now, see you after the exam." said Shino as he drank the rest of his black coffee and went to his room to change and go. The exam was at 8:00AM so he had plenty of time.

**AT THE ENTRANCE OF U.A.:**

"WOW THIS SCHOOL IS HUGE" screamed Shino as he made his way towards the written exam hall which earned him a few annoyed looks from the people around him but he didn't care, he was so excited to finally step on the starting line of his journey to becoming a hero.

The written exam was easy enough but now was time the practical exam, all student were guided to big conference room to have the rules of the exam.

As the students waited in their designated seats a booming voice startled everybody "HELLO YOUNG LISTENERS AND WELLCOME TO THE PRACTICAL PART OF THE U.A. ENTRENCE EXAM, CAN I GET A YEAH?" the now identified Present Mic waited for a response but silence was all he got. "TOUGH CROWD HUH? SO, ON WITH THE EXPLANATION." suddenly the screen behind Present Mic was turned on and on it there was three silhouettes with 1P, 2P, and 3P under them respectively "YOU SEE, THE PRACTICAL EXAM IS A 10 MINUTE FIGHT WHERE YOU WILL BE TASKED WITH DESTROYING OR DEACTIVATING THE FUAX VILLAINS ON THE SCREEN AND YOU WILL BE REWARDED WITH POINTS ACCORDINGLY, YOU WILL BE DIVIDED INTO GROUPS AND SENT TO DIFFERENT SITES TO CONDUCT THE EXAM. THE SITES WERE WRITTEN ON THE HANDOUTS YOU WERE GIVEN." at that moment Shino looked at the ID he was given and noticed 'ground beta' written on it "So I'm in ground beta huh, wander what it looks like." "GATHER POINTS AND THE HIGHEST ONES WILL BE CHOSEN AS OUR NEW STUDENTS" as Present Mic stopped talking a tall boy with glasses and blue hair raised his hands "YES YOUNG LISTENER, DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION?" The boy stood up "Yes, my name Tenya Iida and according to the handouts we received there is supposed to be four faux villains so if there is an error then as the best school for heroics you should be ashamed. Also, you with the green hair you've been muttering this whole time and it's distracting, if you think this is a joke then you better leave now." this caused a number of other students to chuckle at the now stuttering and flustered boy, but it only made Shino frown '_putting the boy on the spot like that wasn't very nice'_ the chuckling stopped when Present Mic started talking again "THANK YOU YOUNG LISTENER FOR YOUR OBSERVATION AND I WAS GETTING TO THAT," a new silhouette appeared with 0P written under it "YOU SEE THE FORTH FAUX VILLAIN IS WHAT WE CALL A ZERO-POINTER, IT'S MORE OF AN OPSTECALE THAN ANYTHING, YOU GET NO POINTS FROM DESTRYING IT SO YOU SHOULD SIMPLY AVOID IT." as Present Mic finished explaining Iida seemed to be satisfied with the answer and sat back down "thank you".

**AT GROUND BETA:**

'_WE HAVE AN ENTIRE CITY AS THE EXAM GROUND_' was the thought on all the student's minds as they looked in awe at the fake city.

As Shino was walking on he noticed the green-haired boy being chewed out by Iida. '_Again with this, should I step in and stop him?_' but before he could decide a loud siren brought everybody's attention to the giant gates leading to the fake city that are now open. A voice then tells "What are you waiting for the exam has started, there are no countdown in a real fight" at that moment it was like a bomb was thrown at the crowd as everybody ran through the gates and started to spread throughout the city looking for faux villains to fight.

Not missing a beat, Shino used some of the gold covering his hands as gloves to prevent him from turning anything to gold since he can't deactivate that aspect of his quirk and molded it into a floating board while turning a one-pointer's hand into gold and using that to destroy a big group of two-pointers earning him a large amount of points then continued looking for villains to destroy.

As time went by and the exam was nearing its end Shino was sitting on top of a building scouting for faux villains to destroy, his thoughts went to the forth villain, the zero-pointer, and he wondered how come he never saw it.

As if responding to his thoughts the ground began to shack and as he looked in the distance he saw a giant robot emerging from the ground like some kind of Si-fi movie. The mechanical monster started moving destroying anything that crossed its path in the process. Screams could be heard as people ran for their lives not looking back or caring to make sure no one was injured, but not Shino, he decided to head to the giant and assist anyone that might be trapped or injured.

As he got closer he noticed something approaching the robot's head before colliding with the robot's head causing a huge dent as if meteor just hit it. "WHAT THE HELL?!" was all Shino could say in response before noticing the thing that just destroyed the robot falling. As he got closer he could now see it was a human. Realizing that they didn't look like they had a falling plan, Shino sped up trying to catch them before they fell but suddenly a hand slapped them and they seemed to stop falling and descended slowly and harmlessly to the ground. When Shino reached the ground his shock and surprise doubled when he discovered that the one responsible for destroying the giant robot was none other than the meek green-haired boy from earlier. 'How does someone so meek and shy hold so much power?' was the first thing Shino thought and the second was 'How can someone's quirk hurt them so much?'

But there was no time for questions and as he carefully knelt next to the injured boy he brought out the first-aid equipment he had on him and checked to see if the boy was even alive he yelled to the crowd now watching him "STOP STARING AND GO GET THE MEDICS, FAST." He then noticed the boy trying to say something but his voice was too low to be heard so he neared the boy's mouth to hear what he was trying to say and his eyes widened as he heard the boy ask "Is she alright?"

Shino didn't know what he was talking about until he saw a girl with brown hair and eyes and pink cheeks behind him throwing up and everything clicked for him 'he must have destroyed the robot to protect that girl' as he looked at the boy who was now looking at him waiting for an answer.

He smiled "Yeah, she is safe don't worry, you saved her."

The boy seemed to have heard him because he relaxed in Shino's arms before smiling, closing his eyes, and passing out. At that moment an elderly woman wearing what looked like a nurse outfit and using giant needle as a cane approached him calmly "what is his state?" When Shino looked up he smiled and answered quickly "He broke both his legs and his right arm, he just passed out a moment ago but nothing life threating as far as I know." the elder woman simply smiled as she came closer to the green haired boy's cheeks and delivered a kiss. Suddenly all the boy's broken bones started healing and returned to normal "I'll take it from here, you did good my boy." this caused the gold-controller's smile to widen even more "Thank you" was all he said.

As he watched the medical robots carry the boy on a stretcher he felt a tug on his shirt, it the girl that was saved, "Where is the boy that saved me, and who was that old lady?", it felt like she was barley holding herself from throwing up again, "First, the boy was taken to the medical ward to complete his treatment. And second, that was recovery girl, the resident healer of U.A.. By the way do you know the boy's name?"

The girl gave a sigh of relief and answered "No I don't, he never told me but I hope he gets in though I'm sure he would make great hero, I'm Uraraka Ochaco by the way, nice to meet you".

Shino could only smile "Hi Uraraka, my name is Shinohara Kazushige but call me Shino, and yeah I'm sure he will, now let's get back to the exam."

Uraraka gave him a confused look "What are you talking about? The exam ended a while ago".

It took Shino a moment to register the new information "WHAT?! WHEN?! HOW?!" but as he calmed down he realized that he probably didn't notice because he was so focused on the boy he saw do the impossible and sighed.

"Guess that's it huh? All that is left is to wait for the result."

"Yeah, I hope I get to see you and that boy in U.A. I haven't thanked him yet." Uraraka replied as she walked towards the exit alongside Shino.

Little did they both know that this day would be the most important day of their lives aside from being the being the beginning of their journey to become heroes.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hey it's serpentrequiem, I'm very happy that you guys liked my story and was even happier that you know the king midas story since it's not a very popular story. I thank you for the positive feedback. I will try to upload once a week if nothing happens and the uploads will always be on a Sunday. Concerning Oi Teme's suggestion about the drawbacks of the quirk, sorry but I have to include a small weakness in it and that's for three reasons:**

**I don't like OP quirks unless they have a weakness or are done for comedy.**

**I want to leave room for improvement and growth.**

**More importantly, it's for story purposes.**

**I hope you understand and continue following the story.**

**Lastly,**** I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. And any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter**** 2**

The week of waiting for the results was stressful for Shino, he knew he aced the written part but was unsure about the practical. He had collected 55 points according to his estimate but he didn't know if that would be enough to pass. There were many applicants this year, more so than any other past year. Moreover, he wasted valuable time taking care of the green-haired boy, he didn't regret it though, he knew he did the right thing but that did nothing to release his worries.

After the week had passed, he began suspecting that he failed. That however changed when he found a letter from U.A. at his doorstep one morning. What should have relieved his stress however only increased it because for how easy-going and care-free he was he still had the anxiety any student would have upon receiving their exam results.

After much cheering and persuading from his family, he decided to open it. Inside the letter was a metallic disc with a single button on it and piece of paper.

Shino put the paper aside and shifted his focus on the disc placing it on the living room's table for everyone to see, and pressed the button. Suddenly, a projection of All-Might appeared and screamed "**I AM HERE, AS A PROJECTION."** scaring everyone. As they calmed down the All-Might projection started speaking again "**Young Shinohara you applied to the hero course of U.A. and went through the written and practical exams. You aced your written exam getting full marks which in of itself is impressive, but what matters more was the practical exam."**

At that point Shino's doubts started to grow, the way All-Might talked made it seem like he failed. '_At least I'm being rejected by All-Might, what a nice way of end my career at U.A. before it even began.'_ was the thought looming in his head. His attention returned when All-Might's smile widened if that was even possible and started talking about the practical exam in detail "**In the practical you scored 55 villain points which would have secured you a seat at U.A. on its own but you decided to go beyond and embody what it means to be a hero." **

Shino eyes widened as he took in the words told to him '_I passed? And there was more to the exam?'_ Next to All-Might was an electrical board with student names listed with their scores and the criteria for which the scores were given.

What drew Shino's immediate attention was his name ranked second with 76 points, one point behind the first place. The second thing he noticed was Uraraka being ranked forth which put a smile on his face. **"You see my boy, there was a hidden criteria called 'rescue points', a group of U.A. teachers were watching the exams and judging every applicant based on any heroic deeds they performed. While everyone ran away from the zero-pointer, you approached with a determined look in your eyes. And immediately after arriving, took care of the injured while staying calm. And that, young Shinohara is all we could ever want in our students, welcome to U.A. you will find everything you need in the paper attached to this disc."**

After the projection ended everybody started cheering and congratulating their big brother who didn't react, too lost in the moment. '_I was accepted? I'm going to U.A.? For real?_' He was pulled out of his trance by a hand patting him on the head. Looking back at the hand's owner he found Mother.

"You did it my boy, you put your leg on the staring line." Said Mother while giving him the warmest smile she could muster.

Finally, his tears started falling down as he enveloped Mother in a hug while giving her a big smile, and soon all the children and Maria joined in, it was one of the happiest days at the orphanage.

**The first day of school:**

Shino was looking at the mirror admiring how good he looked in the U.A. uniform then went down to make sure his brothers and sisters were ready and finished their breakfast. He might be exited for his first day but he would be damned if he slaked on his big brother duties, and after giving each one of them their homemade lunch -made by him of course- and seeing them all off he headed for his own school.

Due to the large number of applicants both the two heroics course classes had 21 student. He was assigned to class 1-A and upon finding it he prepared to meet the people he will be stuck with for three years. Since he arrived early, the classroom was empty with the exception of blue haired with glasses who rushed to the golden haired boy immediately to introduce himself.

"Hello fellow student, my name is Tenya Iida, what is your name?" Iida asked while cutting air in an almost robot-like movement.

Shino frowned internally '_Just perfect, it's the not-so-nice guy._' Nevertheless, despite how Shino felt he chose to be polite since there was the chance he miss-judged the boy.

"Hi, my name is Shinohara Kazushige, but call me Shino." Replied Shino with a small smile.

"I see, well it is an honor to meet you Shino." Iida said while extending a hand.

'_At least he's polite, maybe he's not so bad after all._' Shino's smile grew as he shook Iida's hand and both boys went to sit in their designated seats.

As time went on and more students entered the class Shino noticed how varying their looks were, from the ones that were pretty normal to ones that had slight changes to ones that didn't look human at all, this verity made him exited to meet them and learn their quirks.

Suddenly, the door was opened with so much force it was surprising it didn't break as an angry looking boy with ash-blonde hair and red eyes entered the classroom. The boy gave everyone a dirty look as if he was sizing them up then smirked and went for his seat which was unfortunately in the row directly in front of Shino but on his lift.

As soon as the boy sat on the chair, he railed back and leaned his legs on the desk, which angered Iida so he stormed to confront the offender.

"Please remove your legs, it is disrespectful to your fellow students and to the people who made this table" said Iida almost yelling.

The ash-blonde boy smirked "You got a stick up your ass or something?"

As the two boys argued, Shino tried to drown their loud noises by thinking of whom else he might meet. He then remembered Uraraka and the green-haired boy and it made him wonder if he made it. And as if the world answering his question that very same boy opened the door and stood awkwardly.

Shino immediately rushed to him "Hello there hero boy."

The boy seemed startled by the greeting and nickname but answered "H-hello I'm Izuku Midoriya, n-nice to meet you, why did you call me hero boy?"

"I'm Shinohara Kazushige but call me Shino, and why wouldn't I when you acted like a cool hero in the exam." Shino answered with a smile.

"You saw that?" Midoriya was now red with embarrassment.

"Of course I saw it I was there; wait you don't remember me?" Shino asked confused.

Before Midoriya could answer him Iida noticed him and yelled "YOU" returning Midoriya to his flustered state, but before either Shino or Midoriya could say a word Iida started bowing.

"I'm sorry, I misjudged you." Said Iida in a sad tone confusing the two boys.

"You realized there was more to the exam while I didn't, you must be very perceptive and so as a student you are far superior to me."

Midoriya's face became even more red and franticly tried to explain that he didn't know about the rescue points and he was simply doing what he thought was right. Shino simply smiled at the antics of his new classmates '_This is fun_' is all he thought as he motioned for Iida to raise his head.

"I think you're misunderstanding Iida; I think he didn't know anything he just did what he felt was right." said Shino as he put his hand on Iida's shoulder.

Midoriya nodded his head confirming Shino's deduction.

"I see, still he acted as a hero should and I didn't which means he is closer than me to being a hero." Said Iida with thoughtful expression.

This seemed to make Midoriya happy as he finally opened his mouth to speak "I'm not superior to you Iida, we're both fellow students here to learn to be heroes."

Iida smiled at the shorter boy's words "And I'm honored to call you my classmate and friend if you'd like."

"Of course I would." was Midoriya's immediate response.

"Then it's settled, we're all friends here." Shino chimed in as he rested his arms around the two boys' shoulders.

Suddenly a female voice called out to them "I recognize this messy hair anywhere, it's the falling boy, and Shino you made it too!" Running down the hallway was Uraraka with a huge smile on her face.

"Hey Uraraka, so we're in the same class, that's awesome!" Said Shino as he greeted her.

Uraraka stopped her running and stood right in front of Midoriya's face causing the boy to heat up he almost caught on fire and tried to cover his face with his hand. "I never got a chance to thank you for saving me. Thank you." Said Uraraka

"I-I didn't d-d-do anything really, and you s-saved my l-life too." Midoriya struggled to say the words then looked to Shino for assistance.

"Hey Uraraka this is nice and all but Midoriya here is a shy person and you're kinda invading his personal space." Said Shino as he pointed at Midoriya's tomato-like face.

Realizing her mistake, Uraraka quickly stepped back looking ashamed that she didn't notice how uncomfortable she made Midoriya "I'm sorry, I was just exited to meet you all here."

Shino gave her a smile "No need to apologize, we just became friends with Iida here, how about you join the circle? I don't think anybody would mind."

Both Iida and Midoriya nodded in agreement which returned the smile to Uraraka's face "I would love to!"

"If you're here to socialize then you better back your things and leave now." Said a raspy voice behind the group causing them to slowly look behind them to find what looked like a cocoon with a human face.

Everybody was shocked at the strange creature laying on the ground in front of them. The cocoon opened up and out came a lanky man with black hair wearing all black, a long grey scarf around his neck, and an expression that said he wanted to be anywhere but here. "It took you all 8 seconds to react, this just isn't gonna work." The mysterious man then walked in the classroom "My name is Shouta Aizawa, and I'm your homeroom teacher."

To the say the class's shock was doubled would be an understatement since they knew all teachers at U.A. are pro heroes, but nobody could recognize the man as any hero they knew. "Right, now put these on and go outside." Said Aizawa as he pulled what looked like P.E. clothes.

After the class was all outside, they were told they would take a quirk assessment exam.

"But what about the orientation ceremony? We will miss it, this isn't fair." Uraraka protested

"Oh, and you think natural disasters are fair? What about villains? No, life is full of unfairness and it's the hero's job to fight it, and so we don't have time to loss on unnecessary ceremonies."

Nobody seemed to have an answer to this and stayed silent. "Good, now you're gonna do 8 physical tests and unlike in middle school you will be using your quirks."

That seemed to cheer the students as the thought of showing of their quirks exited them, but Shino knew there would be more to this. "But the one with the lowest score will be immediately expelled; you're 21 students so it would be better to get rid of one of you." The added information brought the angry mood back but before the students could protest, a loud laugh was heard and when they turned, they saw that Shino was the source of it.

"You think being expelled is funny?" Said Iida in an angry tone.

"No not really, I worked hard to get here. I was just imagining my family's reaction if I told them that my first day at U.A. was also my last." Shino answered between laughs.

Shino's answer earned him some confused looks so he felt he should explain himself.

"All Mr. Aizawa asked us to do is prove ourselves, and I don't know about you but being expelled isn't gonna stop me from becoming a hero, I'll just have to try another school but I will become a hero no matter what." His explanation seemed to motivate the students and please Aizawa but that didn't mean they was free from the tests. "All right then let's start the tests." And with that the students of class 1-A started their first test derived by the desire to prove themselves and the fear of being expelled.

The tests weren't any thing crazy, just the normal physical tests found in any school but being able to use your quirk made every test interesting. Each student had at least one test where they excelled with exception of Midoriya and it was the ball-throwing test. "Bakugo you were the one with the highest points in the entrance exam right? Let's see what you can do." The ash-blond boy now named Bakugo grabbed the ball and as he was throwing it, he created an explosion from the balm of his hand and screaming "DIE". The explosion propelled the ball to the sky landing 705.2 meters away. The class was at shock, they have seen the quirks versatility in the other tests but seeing its sheer power was something else. As Bakugo returned he shot Midoriya an angry look which didn't go unnoticed by Shino.

When Shino's turn came, he took the ball and stared ahead. "You can talk big but let's see if you back it up." Said Aizawa in an uninterested tone.

Shino then molded his golden glove to wrap around the ball then threw it and as the ball began falling, he controlled it making it go to the end of the field 1000 meters away breaking Bakugo's record which angered the ash-blond boy.

Next was Uraraka's turn and using her quirk she removed the gravitational force on the ball then threw it and waited but the ball never came back which earned Uraraka an infinity surpassing both Shino and Bakugo.

Last was Midoriya's turn, both Shino and Iida were concerned since they saw what his quirk did to his body but when he threw the ball it just went 43 meters which confused anybody that knew of his quirk including Midoriya himself.

"W-What happened?" Midoriya asked in confusion.

"I erased your quirk, were you planning on breaking your body again with your uncontrolled quirk and relaying on someone else to save you?" Came Aizawa's voice filled with irritation while his eyes glowed and his long hair stood up.

"W-What, no I wasn-" Midoriya tried to argue but he was pulled by the scarf towards Aizawa and that is when he noticed the goggles that were hidden underneath it.

"Those goggles, I know you, you're the underground hero Eraser Head." The students however didn't recognize the name.

"You have the drive to be a hero but with such a quirk you can't," Aizawa continued talking ignoring the students remarks "I have returned your quirk, go ahead and throw."

Midoriya looked distraught at his homeroom teacher's remark but took the ball and prepared to throw. '_Will he break his arm and forfeit the rest of the tests or will he give up without throwing, either way he has no potential._' was what Aizawa thought as he watched Midoriya throw the ball. However, to his surprise Midoriya threw the ball but made sure to use his quirk on his finger at the last second of contact sacrificing his finger but keeping the rest of his hand safe.

"You see Mr. Aizawa, I'm still standing." Said Midoriya as clenched his broken finger.

"This kid!" Aizawa smiled at his student's actions in amazement and satisfaction.

Before anyone of Midoriya's friends could congratulate him, Bakugo ran at Midoriya angry and demanding an explanation, "DEKU YOU SHITTY NERD, HOW THE FUCK DID GET THIS POWER." However, he was immediately stopped by Aizawa's scarf that was stronger than it looked and was dragged back to his place. The teacher then told the next student to take their turn.

After all the tests were complete Aizawa showed the results revealing that despite the high score he got in ball-throwing, Midoriya was still in last place. However, as Shino, Iida, and Uraraka were consoling him, Aizawa revealed that it was all a 'logical ruse' meant to make them do their best and no one will be expelled. This relieved the students and especially Midoriya but put their trust in their homeroom teacher in question. At least now, they know what they will be dealing with for this year.

As Shino, Iida, and Midoriya were leaving, Uraraka called out to them. "Guys wait for me, we'll walk together." When she caught up to them she looked at Midoriya with concern, "How is your finger Deku?"

The green haired boy flinched at being called that, "D-Deku? Why did call me that?"

"Well, that Bakugo boy called you that didn't him?" Uraraka answered confused at the boy's reaction.

"O-Oh actually my name is Izuku Midoriya, Deku is a nickname Kacchan calls me, it means useless." Said Midoriya rubbing the back of his head nervously.

Nobody liked the sound of that, "So it's an insult?" Said Iida clearly angry at the information.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know, but it a shame I like Deku, it sounds like 'you can do it'." Said Uraraka sounding disappointed.

"You can call me Deku, that's Me." Came the immediate response from Midoriya as his face turn as red as a tomato.

While Iida was shocked at how fast Midoriya accepted the name, Shino laughed at boy's reaction. "Well, I'll keep calling you Midoriya." As they started walking again, they started striking small conversations, strengthening their newly formed bonds of friendship.

Later that day, Shino was sitting in the living room with his siblings as he recounted the events of the day. As expected, they laughed hard at the prospect of his first day being his last but were happy that it turned out to be a ruse. The doorbell rang and when Shino opened it, he found Recovery Girl standing at it wearing her usual smile.

"Ah, hello there my boy, is Hana ready?" Greeted the elderly woman.

"Yes, Mother has been waiting for you. Please come in."

"How was your first day of school?"

"Well, I managed to not get expelled so that's nice. I also made new friends."

"Good. God knows how much you need friends your age my boy."

"Yeah they're really nice people. I'll go tell Mother you arrived."

Shino lift and after a couple of minutes arrived with Mother walking besides him. "Took you long enough, Chiyo. At this rate we'll be late."

"Don't worry we won't." Said Recovery Girl as she stood up from where she sat between the children and they both walked to the door.

"Have fun you two." Said Shino as he closed the door.

"I'll make a cup of coffee and if anybody needs me I'll be in my room, I have work to finish." However, before he lift he added with a stern look "And kids, don't you dare stay up all night, you hear. Or you will suffer in the morning."


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 3**

After surviving their first day at U.A., the student came back on the second day mentally prepared for a day equally full of action. However, what they didn't prepare for was how boring and mundane the start of that day would be. While they were in the hero course whey still had to take normal subjects like English and math where the only exciting thing was the heroes that acted as their teachers. Then came lunchtime, the class split into small social groups with Shino, Midoriya, Iida, and Uraraka sitting together talking and eating their lunch made by the cook hero Food Rush.

Then came the afternoon classes, and the class that everyone was waiting for, the heroics class. Their excitement doubled when they saw that their teacher was the one and only All-Might as he entered dramatically wearing his silver age costume and shouting "I AM HERE, ENTERING THE CLASS LIKE HERO." He then marched to the teacher's desk and started taking again. "Welcome to the most important class at U.A. think of it as heroing 101 and our first class is gonna be a battle." Most students were excited and some a little nervous -namely Midoriya- but All-Might was not finished. "And part of being a hero is looking good, and so" As he spoke compartments started popping out of the wall next to him with number written on them. "In here you will find the costumes you have submitted before starting school, go change and meet me at training ground beta."

As the students hurried to change into their costumes but Shino made sure he stayed behind. He wasn't so thrilled about his new classmates seeing his scarred body and asking questions or worse, avoiding him all together.

**AT TRAINING GROUND BETA:**

All-Might watched as the students came out each in their costumes. Some had costumes that complimented their quirks like Uraraka whose costume was designed to mitigate her quirk's side effects, and some simply wanted to look cool like Iida even if he denied it.

Shino's costume was of the latter. It consisted of a hooded black long coat with golden hexagonal pattern all over it, a black turtle neck sweater with golden vine patterns that converged at the chest area creating the shape of a heart (think law's tattoo from one piece), a golden belt that housed various first-aid equipment, black pants, and golden heavy-duty boots. It was obvious that he liked the combination of gold and black.

After all the students were present All-Might was about to announce the start of the battle trail but was stopped by Iida raising his hand to ask a question. "Sir, this the fake city from our entrance exam, does that mean we'll be doing urban battle again?"

"Not quite, while most battles you see on TV happen outside, statistically most evil doers hide indoors. Think about it, backroom deals, home invasions, and underground secret lairs. The smart villains hide in the shadows." The last two examples peeked Shino's interest. "And so, you will be split to teams of heroes and villains each team containing two members and fight each other."

Immediately the students bombarded All-Might with questions before he was done speaking. So he brought out a small notebook and fake-coughed to get the students to be silent as he read from the notebook. "Listen, the scenario is this, the villain team has hidden a nuke somewhere in their hideout and it's the hero teams' job to either find the villains and take them down or recover the nuke. The villains win if they take out the heroes or protect the nuke until time runs out. We will draw to decide the teem-ups." That's when All-Might noticed that there were 21 students, which means there will be someone lift out.

"You're 21 students! That complicates things." Said All-might as he thought of a solution.

However, a solution came to him as Shino raised his hand "All-Might Sir. I have a suggestion."

"Ah young Shinohara, speak up my boy." All-Might motioned for him to continue, happy that the class wasn't ruined.

"How about the one lift out fights one the teams that have fought already while reversing the roles so if that team was the heroes in their first fight they become the villains and vice versa."

This idea appealed to All-Might but the other students showed concern. "Wouldn't it be a little tough on the one lift out to fight two people at once?" asked Iida.

"Not really, the other team would most likely be tired from their previous fight and also it would benefit them to fight as both heroes and villains. At any rate, isn't it a hero's job to fight even if the odds are against them?"

Shino's explanation seamed to satisfy most of the class with the exception of one Minoru Mineta, the class pervert with the uncanny ability to throw sticky balls that reside on his head. "If you're so confident in yourself why don't you be the one left out?"

Shino simply smiled "Naturally, since it was my idea to begin with."

Some students showed relief that they won't be chosen while others showed concern for the golden-haired boy, but it was his choice in the end so they didn't interfere. After that was settled the rest of the class drew to decide the teams and the results were as follows:

Team (A): Izuku Midoriya & Ochaco Uraraka

Team (B): Shoto Todoroki & Mezo Shoji

Team (C): Momo Yaoyorozu & Minoru Mineta

Team (D): Katsuki Bakugo & Tenya Iida

Team (E): Yuga Aoyama & Mina Ashido

Team (F): Rikido Sato & Koji Koda

Team (G): Denki Kaminari & Kyoka Jiro

Team (H): Fumikage Tokoyami & Tsuyu Asui

Team (I): Mashiro Ojiro & Toru Hagakure

Team (J): Eijiro Kirishima & Hanta Sero

Team (K): Shinohara kazushige

The first match was between team (A) as the heroes and team (D) as the villains and nobody could miss the wide grin Bakugo made and the murderous aura he had, it made Shino concerned for the safety of not only Midoriya and Uraraka who had to face him but also Iida since Bakugo didn't look like a team player. '_At least we have All-Might to stop the match_' was the thought he used to push his worries down.

As both teams toke their positions, the rest of class and All-Might went to the observation deck to watch through the cameras spread all over the city but they couldn't hear what their classmates say.

"The first round starts now." Announced All-Might.

Midoriya and Uraraka climbed the fire escape and entered the second floor but immediately after taking a corner were faced with a really angry Bakugo.

Bakugo went straight for a punch but Midoriya's reflexes were fast enough to dodge it and push Uraraka out of the way, this only served to anger Bakugo even more.

He then tried to attack again but was grabbed in mid-air by Midoriya who proceeded to flip him to the ground. He then turned to Uraraka yelling something to her, probably telling her to run since that's what she did.

As Uraraka left Bakugo lunged at Midoriya but the latter dodged and tried to use the capture tape to capture Bakugo. Unfortunately, Bakugo was quick to catch him and went for another punch that Midoriya dodged then started running.

As Midoriya hid behind a corner, he looked like he was thinking up a strategy to combat the ash-blond explosion-user while the later was blowing down doors looking for him.

Shino couldn't move his head away from the screen showing his green haired friend. As much as he wanted to check on Uraraka and Iida, his concern for Midoriya was just too much. It's not that he didn't believe in Midoriya's abilities, he has seen them first-hand after all, but he was very protective of people he cared for and Midoriya was definitely one of those people. Despite not knowing the boy for long, Shino saw in him what a hero should be and his personality made him endearing and fun to hang out with.

Back with Midoriya, his thinking was interrupted by a signal from his intercom; it was most likely Uraraka informing him of the weapon's location.

After receiving the information Midoriya had a determined look on his face as started to move but found Bakugo on the other end of the corridor with a sadistic grin.

Midoriya looked fearful as Bakugo pointed his grenade looking gauntlet and yanked a latch on the brace sending a massive explosion that wrecked the building.

As the rest of class-specifically Shino- watched in horror the destruction, All-Might tried to communicate with Midoriya hoping the worse didn't come to pass "Midoriya…Midoriya come in are you there?!"

To their surprise and relief, Midoriya emerged and had only suffered minor injuries and part of his costume was burned. However, at the same time Bakugo also came out of the smoke ready to continue the fight.

"Sir aren't you going to call off the match? Bakugo clearly used excessive force and endangered not only Midorya but also Iida and Uraraka and he clearly intends to do it again." Shino asked All-Might with anger all over his face. Seeing his friends in danger didn't set well with him.

"Not on my watch." said All-Might as he grabbed the microphone, "Bakugo, use that power again and I will stop the match and declare your team the losers."

Bakugo angrily looked at the started yelling something but stopped when All-Might scolded him about using an attack that would destroy their hideout not to mention endanger his teammate.

Shino wasn't satisfied with that, he wanted Bakugo eliminated but that would've been unfair to Iida who did nothing wrong. So he opted to watch as Bakugo charged Midoriya again.

Midoriya took a step back in an attempt to dodge the incoming attack but the blast from earlier missed with his center of mass causing him lose his footing. As Bakugo approached fast, Midoriya had to counter attack and so he took a swing but to his and the entire class's surprise, Bakuga used an explosion to propel himself above Midoriya and blast him on the back.

That move showed the class the talent and intelligence of Katsuki Bakugo, he was a natural born fighter and it irritated them -some more than other- how someone so talented would be such a jerk.

Not missing the opening, Bakugo punched Midoriya with a right hook then gripped his arm and slammed him on the ground hard.

The students at the observation deck were commenting on the fight but Shino didn't pay attention, his eyes were fixed on the screen showing Midoriya on the ground. Part of him wanted Midoriya to stay down but he knew that this wasn't the kind of man Midoriya Izuku was, no matter the odds he will fight to the end and Shino admired that about him.

As expected Midoriya struggled to stand up but stood eventually then yelled something to Bakugo as he charged at him. Bakugo did the same and the two fighters charged their quirks Shino and other students pleaded with All-Might to stop the fight, "You two stop right now" he yelled into the microphone but it was too late.

At the last moment before contact, Midoriya yelled something in his intercom as he changed the trajectory of his punch upwards while using his other arm to defend against Bakugo's attack. The force of Midoriya's punch broke through the floors above him almost destroying the building.

On Uraraka's end, she grabbed one of the broken pillars in the room and used it to bat the debris caused by Midoriya's punch at Iida and while he was busy dodging she jumped using her quirk to make herself weightless and releasing at the right moment to grab the bomb securing it and winning the challenge.

Once All-Might announced team (A) had won the challenge, Bakugo yelled something then directed his gaze at Midoriya and his look of anger changed to a look of shock and distraught.

As the smoke went out the class could see Midoriya and was horrified at the scene. His right arm red and swilling from his punch while the left was coal black and charred from Bakugo's explosion, he wobbled a bit before falling.

As two robots put Midoriya on a stretcher and took him to recovery girl to be healed, All-Might went to check on him and bring Bakugo, Iida, and Uraraka back to the observation deck.

Shino was so angry at this point that his golden gloves where grinding on each other that emitted an ear-shattering noise, the students near him stepped back as to not accidently cause him to explode. They knew he would anyway as soon as Bakugo arrived and wished to not be anywhere near the point of impact.

As All-Might entered the room the students looked at him with concern both for their classmate and the confrontation that was about to happen.

The minute Bakugo stepped into the observation deck Shino charged at him with the intention to harm but was stopped by All-Might getting in the way as Uraraka and Iida moved away.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM BAKUGO, YOU COULD HAVE KILLED THEM." Shino scream at his red-eyed classmate.

"THAT'S NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS YOU HEAR." Bakugo yelled back.

"IT IS MY BUSINESS WHEN YOU TRY TO BLOW UP MY FRIENDS YOU IDIOT."

"I DO WHAT I WANT SO SHUT THE FUCK UP BEFORE I BLOW YOU TOO, GOLDIE LOX."

"JUST TRY IT ASHLY. I DARE YOU. I WILL BEAT YOUR ASS SO HARD YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SIT FOR A MONTH."

Despite the fear of a fight breaking out between the two students, the class and even All-Might couldn't hold their chuckling at the nicknames being thrown around.

"That's enough you two, you're disrupting class, if you keep this up I'm gonna have to throw both of you out, so behave or else." Said All-Might in a stern tone causing the two teens to quiet down, although they kept giving each other death stares.

"Now, who could tell me who the MVP of the match you just watched was?"

"Allow me to answer that Sir." Said Yaoyorozu as she raised he hand.

"Young Yaoyorozu, yes you may answer."

"It was Iida."

"WHAT? WHY IS'T IT ME?" objected Bakugo.

"Because you're an idiot." Said Shino in an angry tone.

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

"DID I STUTTER? OR DO YOU HAVE A HEARING PROBLEM FROM ALL THE EXPLOSIONS YOU THROW LIKE AN IDIOT?"

Both Shino and Bakugo were about to charge at each other again but a load cough from All-Might stopped them.

"What did I say?"

"Fine." They both said. As their classmates' sweet dropped.

"Shouldn't it have been one of the hero team since they won though?" asked Kirishima trying to continue the discussion.

"Your classmates seem to be confused young Yaoyorozu, care to explain why you chose Iida?"

"While the hero team won their tactic was rash and destructive and endangered their mission since the bomb would have exploded if it was damaged and this was real of course. On the other side, Bakugo abandoned his mission of protecting the bomb in favor of fighting Midoriya and even allowed Uraraka to pass him, which ultimately led to his team's defeat. Iida was the only person to act accordingly and keep his cool. Isn't that right Sir All-Might."

The entire class and even All-Might were more than impressed by Yaoyorozu's detailed explanation.

"Very good young Yaoyorozu, you missed a few points but you got the gist of it. Now class, make sure to learn from this match and apply it not only to your own matches but in the future too."

And with that the debrief ended and it was time for the second match between team (B) and team (I).

The fight -if you could even call it that- ended with the victory of team (B) in record time after Todoroki froze the entire building locking both Ojiro and Hagakure and rendering them helpless as he and Shoji claimed the weapon.

The rest of the matches went with no surprises until all that was lift was Shino's match. It was decided that he will fight team (J) and since they were the villains in their previous match, they would be the heroes in this one.

"Sorry guys, but you're gonna help me prove a point." Said Shino as he pat Kirishima's and Sero's shoulders in an ominous tone then left to prepare. This sent a chill down the two boys' spines but they were confident in their abilities too.

Everyone at the observation deck was confused when they saw Shino place the bomb in a corridor instead of in a room. The corridor was on the second floor and ended with the fire escape exit.

He walked to the wall opposite of the camera to make sure everyone was could see what he was doing. '_Time to show off my power._' As he extended his hands towards the wall, the golden gloves peeled off and reformed as two balls hovering above the back of his hands.

The class was watching in anticipation to see what their golden-haired classmate was capable of, but whatever they were expecting it wasn't that the walls would start turning gold as soon as he touched them.

The golden color spread throughout the walls and soon enough the entire the building was now golden with the exception of the doors and windows.

Shino then switched his attention to the bomb, he made a hand motion and suddenly walls came out of the ground covering the bomb in a golden box.

The class stared in disbelief at the shiny golden building. "What is this? I thought his quirk was to control those gloves of his!" questioned Mineta

"It seems he can extend the effect to other things too but I don't know how exactly it work." Yaoyorozu tried to analyze the phenomena happening in front of her but with little information she couldn't do much.

On Kirishima and Sero's side, they were as surprised as their classmates were and started contemplating going inside the shining building fearing a trap. In the end, they decided to enter through the metal fire escape ladder since it was one the things that didn't turn.

When they entered they found Shino on the other end with a golden box behind him.

"Welcome to my humble lair, heroes." Greeted Shino.

"Where is the bomb Shino?" Questioned Kirishima while he and Sero took a fighting stance.

"Why it's right behind me. But as you can see it's covered in this golden box, it will take a huge amount of power to break through." Replied Shino with an evil grin.

"Not a problem, with my hardening it will be a piece of cake."

"But then you risk accidently hitting the bomb and sitting it off." Shino Argued

"Then we just need to capture you then." Replied Sero with a confident smile.

"Go ahead and try, but it won't be easy."

Kirishima moved first hardening his upper half while Sero shot a tape at the wall and used it to lunch himself at Shino.

Before either of them could reach his face, two hands came out of the ground catching their punches and slamming both of them to the ground.

As they got back up, they looked at the hands in horror as each hand gained a body creating two huge humanoid creatures with no faces. The creatures then split in two doubling their number to four then again to create eight creatures in total and effectively blocked the way to Shino and the bomb.

"What the hell are these things?" Asked Sero

"These are my golden puppets that I control using my quirk. They are well made aren't they?" Answered Shino from behind his puppets.

"Well made or not they don't stand a chance against me." Yelled Kirishima as he charged at one of the puppets to punch it but the puppet caught his punch, which seemed to cause ripples to go through it then delivered a punch of its own sending him flying back at Sero.

Shino laughed, "I think they do."

Back at the observation deck, the heroes-in-training felt like they were watching a horror movie except it was real. Their lack of understanding of how Shino's quirk worked adding to their fear. Nevertheless, they couldn't help but be impressed by their classmate's display. Even Bakugo made a mental list of people to be careful around and it had Todoroki and Shino.

After trying to fight the unnatural moving puppets to no avail, kirishima and Sero decided to retreat and find a way to sneak up on Shino and catch him off-guard but as they turned around, a wall emerged from the ground black their path and locking them with Shino and his puppets.

"You're not going anywhere." Said Shino while shaking his head.

"Guess we've got no choice but to fight."

"Going down without a fight isn't manly, let's give them hell Sero."

"Right."

"Come then heroes." Exclaimed Shino while extending his arms widely.

Kirishima and Sero both did their best to fight against the puppets and their master but they were outnumbered and outgunned and received a hell of a beating before the time ended.

In the end, the win went to Shino.

When both teams returned to the observation deck Shino was bombarded with questions from his classmates.

"Young Shinohara, that was splendid. And your classmates seem to be curious about your quirk. Could you explain please?" Asked All-Might.

"Sure Sir, my quirk **golden touch** turns anything that come in contact with my hands to gold that I can control freely." Explained Shino.

"You mean to tell me that that building is now made out of gold? Like actual gold. Like in jewelry. But they looked so alive!" asked Ashido.

"Actually the gold in jewelry isn't pure gold, mine pure 100% gold. Also, they are not alive I simply control them to act that way."

"Wow, you must be filthy rich having a quirk like that." Exclaimed Kaminari.

"Of course not, I can't just go around turning things to gold, that's illegal. And even if I could it would be unfair and would probably destroy the economy of the country."

"He is right you know, a quirk like that could be very dangerous if used wrongly. What I want to know is how the puppets tanked Kirishima's attacks? Gold is very soft for a metal." Asked Yaoyorozu.

"They didn't." Shino answered confusing the rest of his classmates.

"Please explain."

"You see they didn't tank it I simply repaired them fast enough for them to not fall apart."

As he finished his explanation, Shino noticed Bakugo staring at him angrily but paid him no mind. He proved his point. Then he noticed Kirishima and Sero standing on the side, so he went up to them.

"Hey Kirishima, Sero, I'm sorry if I went a little overboard in our fight. I was angry and wanted to show Bakugo I mean business but ended up taking my anger out on you. I apologize for that.

Kirishima sighed, "No problem man, I'm just pumped out that we lost, you were awesome in there. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you were an actual villain."

"Yeah man, your quirk is seriously overpowered." Added Sero.

"Thanks, you two fought well too, you were closer to winning than you think."

"What do you mean? We were under your mercy the entire time." Asked Kirishima confused.

"Controlling the gold and molding it consumes my stamina and with the amount of puppets I had to control and the complex moves I made them do to keep both of you at bay it was draining. If I reached my limit I would've lost the feeling in my legs and been unable to move." Explained Shino. "Anyway, I hope there are no hard feelings between us and I apologize again for taking it too far."

Looking closer they noticed he was breathing heavily and his legs were shaky.

"Don't worry we're cool. Acting like a sore loser isn't manly. And I'm nothing but manly."

"We understand how angry you were over Midoriya and we're not holding it against you." Added Sero.

"Glad to hear it."

With that, class 1-A returned to their boring classes as Midoriya finally joined them by the end of the school day but was not fully healed yet. He was immediately swarmed by his classmates either introducing themselves, or admiring his performance against Bakugo who was thankfully absent from the room. As the number of students gathering around Midoriya increased, his face got even redder and he struggled to answer all their questions, he was clearly not used to being in the spotlight.

Suddenly, gold wrapped around Midoriya getting him away from the rest of class and behind Shino. "Come on guys, the boy just came from the infirmary, give him some breathing space."

"What are you? His mother?" Mina questioned defiantly.

"More like his big brother." Shino answered with a straight face then turned his attention to a flustered Midoriya while ignoring the shocked faces of his classmates.

"How are you feeling Midoriya?"

Shino's question brought Midoriya out of his flustered state but before he could answer, Uraraka entered the classroom and immediately noticed Midoriya and headed towards him to check on him.

"Deku, why is your arm in a cast? Didn't Recovery Girl heal it?"

"Recovery Girl's healing consume the target's stamina so if the target doesn't have enough stamina it actually endangers them." Shino answered for Midoriya.

"Oh l see, but Bakugo really went overboard huh." The mention of the ash-blond caused the green-haired boy to finally notice the boy's absence but before he could question it, he got an answer from Shino "If you're looking him he just lift before you entered, some tried to sto- where are going Midoriya?" Midoriya ignored the taller boy's question as he ran out the classroom and down the stairs in an effort to catch up to Bakugo.

Finding Bakugo walking towards the gates Midoriya Called him out causing him to flinch and slowly turn around with a look of calm rage "what?" that was enough to startled Midoriya and stopped him from getting any closer. Midoriya looked down as if contemplating something then without looking up started talking. "I wasn't hiding my quirk from you Kacchan; I didn't have it back then. It was given to me by someone else but I can't tell you who. I know it sounds crazy but it's the truth. I have no control over thing power and can't call it my own yet but I am trying and I know one day that I will. And then I will beat you with my own power."

Hearing this seemed to only anger Bakugo even more.

"Do you think I'm an idiot? The hell do mean borrowed power? You have already made a fool out of me in that training battle. I lost and what's worse is that I lost to you. When I watched the ice guy and that stupid goldie, I realized I couldn't beat either in a head to head fight." At this point Bakugo started screaming with an expression on his face that he would die before admitting he made. It was an expression of frustration coupled with a few tears. "DAMNIT DAMNIT, ENJOY YOUR WIN DEKU. BECAUSE IT WILL BE YOUR LAST YOU HEAR. I AM THE ONE THAT WILL BE NUMBER ONE."

Unknown to either of the boys, someone was overhearing their conversion. Shino had ran after Midoriya fearing Bakugo's reaction to seeing him now. As he saw Midoriya standing in front Bakugo he was about to call out to him Midoriya started speaking "I wasn't hiding my quirk from you Kacchan." Shino stopped and hid behind a wall not wanting to disturb the two but ready in case Bakugo started to lash out. What he heard next kept him thinking for the rest of the day. '_What does he mean his quirk was given to him? How is that even possible?_' Shino knew Midoriya was no liar and he didn't say that just to please Bakugo, he could see it in his eyes. Shino's train of thought was cut off by Bakugo's screaming and his expression that will be etched in his mind for a long time. Therefore, he decided to return before he was found out reminding himself to ask Midoriya about his quirk another time.

**Thank you for reading. You can skip the next part.**

**For those still reading I have a question. In this chapter and the previous one, I tried to be as close to the canon as I could but it was a bit frustrating to balance it with the parts of my own creation and it left me unsatisfied with the results unlike the first chapter where almost everything my creation. So on one side I want to do things my way. And on the other, I'm afraid of ruining the characters I love so much. If any of you have an advice to give, I would be thankful. **


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 4**

"Mommy….Daddy….Wake up….Come on please wake up."

"They won't wake up you stupid child….They're **DEAD.**"

"Dead?...No they can't be dead, they can't. You're lying!"

"Stop whining, it's you're fault they died anyway."

"M-My fault?!"

"Yeah, they died protecting you. But now that they're gone, you're coming with us."

"No stay away from me. Leave me alone. No NOOOOOOOO!" Shino woke up from his nightmare sweating and breathing heavily like he has been using his quirk for a week straight. '_Goddamnit_, _I thought we were done with these nightmares._' He looked to his right to a frame that looked like a book open in the middle with two photos in each side. The one on the right was of him, Mother, Maria, and his siblings with the orphanage behind them. The second photo was a little singed on the sides and had what looked like a young Shino with adults in a park. Looking at the photo only deepened Shino's frown. This was not a great start for his day. Moreover, the press swarming around the gates of U.A. didn't make any better. Shino hated reporters and news channels in general, they always looked like drug addicts looking for their fix and getting violent when being denied. As he passed through the hordes of reporters trying to interrogate him about All-Might as a teacher, he did his best to not lash out at them for disturbing the students.

"Today's assignment will shape the next three years of your life." Aizawa stated as soon as he reached the teacher's table. The entire class stiffened up fearing another test. "You will be choosing your class president and vice-president." Finished Aizawa and all the students' worries melted away and were replaced with excitement as students started shouting asking to be chosen. Their shouts were stopped by an even louder shout coming from Iida. "EVERYONE PLEASE QUITE DOWN." As the class looked at Iida, he started talking again, "This no way to act for students of U.A. we have to be civil about this, so I suggest we do an election. Is that possible Mr. Aizawa?"

Despite sounding very professional, everybody could see that Iida was as excited about this as everybody else if not more.

"Do what you want, but you have to decide before the end of the day. The presidents and vice-presidents of each class will meet today after school." Answered Aizawa as he was getting in his sleeping bag.

"Thank you Sir."

"But won't everyone just vote for themselves though." Argued Kirishima.

"Yeah, we haven't known each other for long so why should we vote for others." Added Jiro.

"Maybe, but that just means that the one that gets more than one vote will be the most suitable to be the president." Iida argued back.

"If this is like normal elections, can we nominate people?" Asked Shino.

"I suppose, but I don't think anyone will nominate others."

"Actually, I want to nominate you Iida." This shocked the rest of the class including Iida himself.

"I get he's a nice guy and you're friends but why did you choose him." Questioned Yaoyorozu.

"I am not choosing him because he's my friend," Shino stood up. "I truly believe that Iida is the most suitable person to be the class president. You all want the position but we have to think who is really suited for it, the class president will be our class's voice and will represent us in the future. If you believe you are up to the responsibility, then come forth but if not then I see no reason not to choose Iida."

Although some of the students like Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, and Midoriya seemed to agree with Shino's words to some degree, most of the class didn't and still believed they were the right choice as the class president and in the end nothing was decided.

Later during lunch break, Shino's group was discussing the topic once again.

"I didn't know you had such a high opinion of me Shino. When you talked about nominations I thought for sure you were gonna nominate Midoriya." Said Iida

"Midoriya is shy and gets flustered easily, no offence Midoriya but you're not suited to be a class representative as you are right now." Explained Shino.

"None taken, I don't think I'm qualified to the position either." Midoriya smiled while rubbing the back of his head.

"Indeed, wanting a position and being qualified for it are completely different things, watching the Iida hero agency has taught me that much." Iida's statement caught his three friends' interest as they all stared at him encouraging him to explain.

"Have you heard of the hero ingenium?" upon hearing the name, Midoriya jumped to action listing all the information he knew about the hero -which was a lot- until his mouth was shut by Shino's hand prompting Iida to continue.

"Well he is my older brother, the Iida family have been heroes for generations and as the second eldest son, it is my dream to become a hero like my brother." The looks of awe from his friends filled Iida with pride.

"That's awesome Iida, so your goal is to inherent the igenium name!" Uraraka exclaimed.

"What about you Uraraka, why do you want to be a hero?" The bubbly girl's smile dropped and she looked down as if in shame.

"What's wrong? If you don't want to talk about it that's fine." Shino tried to comfort her.

"No, it's okay. Compared to Iida, my reason is selfish so just hear me to the end before you judge."

"Okay." Said the three boys though they started to worry.

"I'm doing it for the money." The group tried to keep natural faces, they promised to wait until the end to judge.

"My family runs a construction company but it's a small company and unlike the big companies we don't have people with suitable quirks and have to rely on machines and that puts us at a disadvantage. My parents sacrificed everything to give me a good life so I want to be a hero to earn enough money to give them a good life and repay them for everything they did for me."

After she finished talking Uraraka finally raised her head and was met with the smiling faces of her friends.

"There was nothing selfish in your reason Uraraka." Said Shino.

"Indeed, helping your family and loved ones is an admirable goal." Added Iida.

"Yeah Uraraka, you don't have to be ashamed your reason is a noble one. And if anything you should be proud." Said Midoriya.

Their response made Uraraka so happy her tears threatened to fall.

"Thanks guys."

"Don't mention it, now Midoriya it's your turn. What made you want to be a hero?" Shino didn't forget what he heard the other day, but with the media and the class president problem he couldn't find the time to ask him about it. He figured this was the best time to bring the subject to light without exposing what he heard.

The green-haired boy's eyes shined, this was clearly a topic he liked talking about. "I have admired heroes since I could remember, the thought of saving people with a smile on your face, being useful to someone, and helping others sounded so cool to me. So I want to be a hero to do all these." If anyone didn't in some way admire Midoriya up until now they would surely do after hearing this.

Unfortunately for Shino, before he could continue his questioning Uraraka turned to him.

"You're the only one left Shino, so why do you want to become a hero?"

He was focused on getting Midoriya to talk about his quirk that he forgot to think what would he say when it was his turn. Before he could answer, an alarm rang throughout the school "**Warning, level three security breech all students please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion.**"

Not knowing what a level three breech is, Iida asked an upper-class student that was next to him.

"What's a level three breech?"

"It means someone has broken through the school's defenses, this didn't happen through my three years here." Answered the student as he was getting up. "We should evacuate now!"

Everyone started panicking and heading to the exits but due to the large numbers going through the gates at the same time, they started pushing each other. In the chaos the group was separated with Iida being pushed against one of the windows where he could see that the one who infiltrated the school were none other than the media.

Knowing that there was nothing to fear, Iida tried sharing the information with his fellow students but their loud and panicked voices muffled his own. That's when he noticed Shino struggling to move through the crowd and an idea popped in his head.

"SHINO, IT'S JUST THE PRESS. WE NEED TO THE STUDENTS SO THEY WOULD CALM DOWN."

Shino barely heard what Iida was saying but he could see that he had a plan.

"WHAT DO YOU NEED ME TO DO?"

"I NEED A PLATFORM TO STAND ON TO GET THE STUDENTS' ATTENTION."

As instructed, Shino created a circular shaped platform for Iida then directed it towards the gates.

"FELLOW STUDENTS PLEASE CALM DOWN, THERE IS NO DANGER, IT IS JUST THE MEDIA. WE ARE NOT UNDER ATTACK."

As Iida planed, seeing a man floating on a golden platform caught the students' attention and they calmed down enough to hear him. After learning the truth of the alarm, the chaos stopped making the teachers' job of directing the students to their classrooms easier when they came minutes later.

After that, Shino and Iida met with Midoriya and Uraraka and they all headed to their classroom. When they entered, they found their classmates there and Iida was praised for his actions.

"You were so manly Iida! Me and Kaminari tried to calm everybody down but were swept and pushed aside but you were able to do it no problem." Kirishima exclaimed.

"Thank you but I couldn't have done it without Shino's help." Iida said while looking happy.

"Don't look at me; I only followed your instructions Iida." Shino argued.

"That's why we all agreed that you two should become the president and vice-president."

"Wait why me too?" Shino asked confused.

"You were the first to recognize that Iida was the most suitable for the position of president, you always seem to stay calm under pressure even when you're angry, and the teamwork you and Iida displayed were all reasons that drove us to choose you. Besides it was a decision made by the entire class except Bakugo so you don't really have a choice." Yaoyorozo answered.

At that moment, Aizawa entered the classroom prompting the students of 1-A to all sit in their seats.

"I hope you finally decided on your class president and vice-president."

Yaoyorozo stood up, "Yes Mr. Aizawa we have decided that Iida will be our class president and Shino will be the vice-president."

"I see. Iida and Shino, you will come with me after the end of the school day to complete the forums and have the first meeting where you will meet the presidents and vice-presidents of the other first year classes. Now let's begin today's lesson."

Shino sighed '_This better not screw up my work schedule._'

At the end of the day, Iida and Shino followed Aizawa to a room labeled "Conference Room" and inside were class presidents and vice-presidents of class 1-C and 1-D and their respective homeroom teachers.

"Take your seats you two; when class 1-B arrives the meeting will begin." Said Aizawa as he walked to take his place besides the other teachers.

Two minutes later the door open and two girls entered the room. The first had orange long hair tied into a high ponytail on the left side of her head that extended halfway down her back and blue eyes much like Shino's but darker in color. The other girl had large green eyes and dark green hair that reached just below her shoulders. Behind them was a man with silver hair, pointed lower fangs, and he was wearing a costume which lead Shino to believe they were class 1-B representatives and their homeroom teacher.

However, Shino didn't pay much attention to the teacher or the green-haired girl. What he was really interested in was the orange-haired girl, seeing her enter the room sparked two different feelings in him. The first he couldn't identify but it felt like his chest was getting tighter for some reason. He could admit she was beautiful but he met many girls that he could call that but none of them sparked this feeling in him when he first met them. The second feeling was that he saw that girl before in his life but he couldn't remember where or when. These two feelings drove him to keep staring at the girl trying to discover what those feelings meant. He was pulled out of his trance when Aizawa started talking.

"Now that all of you are here the meeting can begin. You are the representatives of your respective classes and your job is to make sure your class's issues are brought to our attention and you will assist in finding the most optimal solutions. You are also responsible for making sure that your class is updated if there are any changes in schedule or any announcements. We will have meetings like this one at the end of every week where you will report the status of your class. Today however, you will be introducing yourselves and being acquainted with each other."

The students decided that they will go with the order of classes starting with 1-A. After Shino and Iida introduced themselves came 1-B's turn. The two girls introduced themselves with the orange-haired girl being Itsuka Kendo the president and the other girl was Setsuna Tokage the vice-president. Shino remembered Kendo's name from the entrance exam being that she came in fifth place but he didn't remember seeing her in ground beta so that was not the answer to his feeling. In addition, as he watched her speak the unidentified feeling in his chest seemed to increase.

After the rest of the students introduced themselves they started talking in a more casual way, getting to know each other better. Shino went to kendo determined to learn about her and the feelings he had. However, before he could speak she turned to him with an angry look that startled him.

"You're the guy that's been staring at me. What do you want?" Shino didn't realize that he was actually staring until he was told.

"Oh sorry about that, I didn't mean to disturb you. It's just that I feel like I've met you before but I couldn't remember where or why." He decided not to talk about the other feeling since he still couldn't understand it.

"No I don't remember seeing you before, sorry." Her angry expression softened after the boy's apology.

"I see, maybe it's just my imagination. Anyway, I hope we can get along and I hope you didn't get a bad impression because of the whole staring thing." Shino offered a handshake.

"No problem, let's work together for the betterment of our classes." Kendo accepted the handshake.

When Kendo touched Shino's hand she noticed the metallic feeling of the gloves he wore, she wanted to ask but didn't want to be rude. Luckily, Shino noticed this and decided to explain.

"I wear these gloves because an aspect of my quirk can't be deactivated." Shino expected a sympathetic look from Kendo, he got many of those whenever he told people about his gloves with the only exception being his classmates but they have seen how powerful his quirk was. However, the look he got from Kendo was not one of sympathy but curiosity.

"Why? What's your quirk?" She seemed interested in him.

"My quirk turns anything that touches my hands to gold that I can manipulate at will." Shino looked sad.

"Wow! With a quirk like that you must have scored very high in the entrance exam." Somehow, Kendo's excitement seemed to infect Shino too.

"Yeah I placed second actually, one point behind the first place."

"No way! That's impressive. Compared to yours my quirk isn't anything flashy." Kendo enlarged her hands, "All I can do is enlarge my hands which increases my strength." Kendo looked discouraged, which Shino didn't like seeing for some reason.

"I think your quirk is awesome. It might be simple but it's in no way weak. And a hero is more than just their quirk anyway." This seemed to cheer her up.

"Also I think there would a lot of uses for your quirk. Few that come to mind are capturing villains, lifting heavy debris and people, and with some martial arts you'd be even better in close combat."

"Thanks, I'm actually practicing mixed martial arts."

"See you're already on the right path. No need to be discouraged."

"Is everything okay here big-sis?" Tokage came behind kendo.

"Big-sis? You two are sisters?" Shino was confused; the two girls looked nothing alike.

"No. The entire class just decided to call me that out of nowhere." Kendo's embarrassed look made Shino's heart skip a beat and he chuckled.

"What's so funny about this?" Kendo hit Shino's shoulder, which actually hurt him a bit showing she didn't lack physical strength even without her quirk.

"Nothing, it's clear that your class admires and loves you enough to consider you their big sister. To get so close to your classmates in such a short time is nothing short of impressive. And shows great potential as a hero." This change Kendo's expression from embarrassed to thoughtful.

"Well if you put like that I guess it's fine."

"I like him." Tokage smirked. "I didn't catch your name in the introductions mind telling me again."

"Just call me Shino."

"Well Shino, it was nice meeting you. Let's go big-sis we have other people to meet." Tokage walked away dragging Kendo with her.

"Goodbye Shino." Kendo waved as she followed Tokage.

After the meeting was over Shino returned home and immediately went to Mother to tell her about his day as he always did and to ask about that feeling. He hoped the old lady had an answer.

"Oh my god, you have a crush on her!"

"Wait, a crush? Like in those cheesy romance movies you always watch?" Shino never thought he would experience that in his life.

"Yes my boy. Now tell me how you felt while talking to her." the woman was excited about her son's feeling.

"Well it was actually fun while it lasted and I actually felt really disappointed when she left."

"That's what having a crush feels like. I'm so happy for you." Mother hugged Shino tightly.

"Sooo, what am I supposed to do now?"

"First, you should wait on these feelings; it's in our nature to be attracted to others so not every crush is romantic. You should let the feeling sink in and then determine what you should do next."

"I see. Thanks Mother, I'll keep that in mind."

As Shino laid on his bed, he started thinking about everything that's happened so far. When he entered U.A. he never expected to have to fight to not be expelled on the first day, or learn about a quirk that can be transferred, or develop a crush. All that in only the first week. He thought this couldn't get any crazier but the future would prove him very wrong. As he fell asleep, the last thing on his mind was Kendo's embarrassed face.

**Thank you for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 5**

When Aizawa announced that the class's next hero training would be rescue training, everyone was undeniably excited. Shino in particular has been waiting for this training; he entered U.A. to learn how to save lives more than to fight villains.

"The training is gonna be in a facility outside the school, you'll be supervised by three teachers me, All-Might, and another teacher. Your choice in clothing is up to you." Aizawa said as he pushed a button that brought out the compartments that contained their hero costumes. "I know you all want to wear your costumes but keep in mind that you haven't gotten used to them yet and they might hinder your movement." Despite Aizawa's speech, everyone chose to wear their costumes except Midoriya since his costume was still being repaired.

After a failed attempt from Iida to organize the students in the bus, they began their journey to the training site. On their way, a discussion was started when Tsuyu pointed the similarities between Midoriya's quirk and All-Might's. This caught Shino's attention and reminded him of the boy's words to Bakugo.

"But Tsu All-Might's quirk doesn't hurt him like Midoriya." Kirishima argued.

"I suppose you're right." Tsuyu admitted.

'_That's true, but Midoriya's quirk was given to him and if all of All-might's power was transferred to Midoriya's much smaller and weaker body, the backlash when using it would probably cause serious harm._' Shino's eyes widened at the realization and looked at Midoriya in shock. '_If that is the case then the question now is why? I mean Midoriya has the heart of hero and all but why would All-Might give his up his power in the first place? There is something I'm missing here and I'm gonna find it out._' At that moment, the bus reached its destination.

The site was huge with a dome as a ceiling. The inside looked even bigger and looked more like an amusement park divided into what looked like different rescue situations like a sinking ship and a landslide with each site separated by a path.

As soon as the class entered the site, the space hero Thirteen greeted them. This excited the class especially Midoriya because his a hero fan boy and Uraraka because she is one of her favorite heroes as she stated.

"Welcome class 1-A to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or the USJ for short." Thirteen exclaimed.

The class's sweet dropped because the name sounded too similar to the Universal Studios Japan.

"Before we start there is something I need to tell you all, maybe two things? Three? Four." The things kept increasing.

"Anyway, in Mr. Aizawa's test you learned the limits of your quirks, and in All-Might's battle trial you used your quirks against living people, now you will learn how to use these quirks to save lives." The class was inspired by Thirteen's words; this was why many of them entered U.A. Next, Thirteen started talking about the potential danger each quirk has but Shino didn't pay attention to that part, he didn't need someone to tell him how dangerous his quirk is. He decided to instead scout the different sections of the USJ and make plans for if he was assigned to any of them.

Suddenly, the lights throughout the entire building started flickering and Shino noticed a black vortex that appeared at the fountain where all the paths converged.

"Mr. Aizawa? What is that?" Drawing the teachers and students' attention to the now expanding black vortex.

"Did the training start already?" Asked Kirishima.

As the vortex expanded, two hands appeared out of them followed by a face that was covered by what looked like a disembodied hand only showing one red eye with a crazy look. After the hands owner completely exited the vortex, everybody could see that he was skinny man with light-blue hair and pale skin wearing all black with disembodied hands gripping all over his body.

After him came a huge muscular creature with an exposed brain and a beak for a mouth and only wearing baggy shorts. Then the vortex that the two came out of took a humanoid shape made out black mist with two yellow glowing eyes and stood by the skinny man's side.

Shino knew what these people were, villains. Nevertheless, even if he didn't, the teachers' reaction telling the class to stay back and taking a fighting stance confirmed it. That's why he immediately crouched down taking advantage that he was at the back of the group and was far less detectable to touch part of the pavement turning it to gold then removing it and touching the ground to turn it to gold from the inside out as to not draw attention.

"Welcome U.A.! my name is Tomura Shigaraki!" The skinny man exclaimed before stopping and starring at the group of students and teachers as if looking for something or someone.

"Where is All-Might? He was supposed to be here." Shigaraki sounded irritated.

His question reminded Shino that yes All-Might was supposed to be with them, so wear was he? That lead to another question, '_how the hell did they know where we were and that All-Might would be here?_'

"According to the files we got from U.A. he should have been here." Answered the black-mist villain.

Hearing this, it all clicked in Shino's mind. '_The alarm from the other day that was them?_' he could tell that the teachers and some of his classmates reached the same conclusion from their worried expressions.

"Shame." Shigaraki started talking again, "And here I brought all these friends that wanted to meet the number one hero. And kill him." As he finished multiple black vortexes appeared and out came groups of people from each one.

"Say Kurogiri, do you think he'll come if we kill some of these brats?" Shigaraki asked with a sadistic grin that no one saw but could feel.

"Most likely." The now named Kurogiri answered with an even voice.

This sent a chill down most of the students as they backed down in fear.

"The fact that the alarms haven't been activated means that they probably have someone that can mask their presence." Said Thirteen.

"Thirteen, take the student and get out of here. I will take care of these punks." Aizawa ordered as put on his goggles.

"RIGHT."

"But Sir you won't be able to fight them all on your own. Your quirk and fighting style are better suited for surprise attacks and one-on-one fights." Midoriya argued.

"Don't underestimate the pros Midoriya. You can't become a pro if you only have one trick up your sleeve." Aizawa jumped to face off against the approaching villains.

As a group of them readied themselves to attack the U.A. teacher they couldn't activate their quirks and in their confusion were wrapped in the capture tool and beaten unconscious by the pro hero.

Watching their homeroom teacher defeat villain after villain put a feeling of ease in the hearts of the students as they hurried to the exit but were stopped when the mist villain suddenly appeared blocking their way.

"Pleasure to meet you all, I'm kurogiri and we are here to meet All-Might and end his life. He was supposed to be here but I don't see him. Could there have been a change of plans we couldn't have predicted?" Kurogiri's body started to expand. "It doesn't matter; I have roll to play."

As Thirteen was about to use her quirk but Kirishima and Bakugo jumped in front of her attacking Kurogiri.

"Did you think we were gonna just stand and let you destroy the place." Kirishima exclaimed.

"You live up to your reputation U.A. students," As the smoke from the attack dissipated, Kurogiri appeared unharmed by it. "but you should learn to choose your fights." Kurogiri's body started to expand once more and engulf the students and Thirteen into a dome like space.

"Now I'll scatter you to meet my associates and your deaths."

"Not on my watch." Suddenly golden tendrils shot out of the ground catching the students and the pro hero and getting them out of the dome.

"What?!" Kurogiri was surprised and confused.

"Sorry but we will have to cancel that meeting." Shino exclaimed as he put everybody down safe and sound.

"When did you do that?" Kurogiri questioned.

"While your boss over there was doing the whole crazy villain act of his."

"Good job Shino, if he separated us the consequences could have been disastrous." Thirteen stepped between the students and Kurogiri. "I'll take care of this now, you have to leave now and call for back up."

"It's foolish to think I would just let you." Kurogiri moved to attack again.

"You don't get a say in this." Thirteen opened a finger hole in her costume and started the absorbing the black mist. As the mist dissipated Shino noticed a metallic object hidden between it.

As the students started moving, Shino looked back to check on Aizawa. To his surprise, the teacher was still fighting the hordes of villains that seemed to have no end to them.

"Your quirk is powerful Thirteen." Kurogiri spoke stopping everyone as he didn't seem very affected by Thirteen's attack or at least was good at hiding it.

"But you're a rescue hero. And so, you don't have much in terms of combat experience." Kurogiri's body itself started to turn into a portal and another one appeared behind Thirteen effectively putting her in her quirks line of fire.

"THIRTEEN LOOK OUT." The students tried to warn the teacher but it was too late. By the time Thirteen noticed, the force of her own quirk destroyed her costume and heavily injured her knocking her out of the fight.

After being free of the space hero's quirk, Kurogiri attempted another attack on the students that went to check on their teacher but was stopped by Shino's gold tendrils forcing him to dodge.

"Damn it, he is unaffected by physical attacks. It seems that not only can he create portals but his body is a portal itself." Shino cursed his inability to damage the mist villain.

"I guess we don't have a choice." Shino looked to Iida

"Iida you have to escape the building and warn U.A." Iida was shocked at the crazy order his friend just gave.

"What are you talking about Shino; there is no way I will leave you all and run."

"Thirteen is heavily injured and Aizawa is fighting hordes of villains on his own. With your quirk, you're the only one fast enough to make it. I will cover you so go now."

"I understand that but I can't leave you fighting for your lives while I run." Iida argued.

"There is no time for this Iida; you're the class president so act like it. Right now our survival depends on you." Iida was still hesitant until Midoriya and Uraraka placed their hands on his shoulder.

"Go Iida, we'll be fine. Right now it's your job to bring back up." Said Midoriya.

Looking at his classmate, they all gave him determined looks encouraging him to go.

"I will be back with back up I promise." Iida got ready to run for his life and the lives of his classmates.

"We know you will." Uraraka cheered.

"It's pretty foolish to strategize in front of your enemy." Kurogiri's attacks became faster.

"That's none of your business." Said Shino as he tried to match his opponent's speed.

Finally seeing his opening Iida sprinted as fast as he could towards the entrance.

"Where do you think your going?" Kurogiri managed to sneak between one of Shino's attacks and open a portal in front of Iida.

Right before Iida was swallowed by the portal, someone grabbed his shoulder and pushed him to the side using an explosion.

"Bakugo!" the entire class was surprised including Iida.

"MOVE IT DUMBASS, NO TIME TO STARE." Bakugo shouted while pushing Iida on the direction of the gate.

"RIGHT." Iida continued his run and before he reached the gate, a gold tendril destroyed it opening the door for Iida to make a safe getaway.

"He escaped, the plan has failed." Despite only having eyes and no face, it was obvious that Kurogiri was furious.

"The only option now is to do as much damage as possible before we have to retreat." Kurogiri's black mist swirled with murderous intent.

"GREAT, HOW ARE SUPPOSED TO DEAL WITH THIS FUCKER." Bakugo retreated to the students' side.

"When Thirteen was absorbing him I noticed a metallic object in his core. It might be the only solid part of him, if we can create enough force to reveal it and capture it we might win this. And I have a plan for that." Shino made sure to lower his voice in order to hide at least part of their plan from Kurogiri.

Kurogiri moved in to attack but Shino's tendrils kept interrupting him.

"These annoying tendrils of yours can be used against you, you know." Kurogiri opened a portal in front of one of the tendrils heading towards him and directed it to hit Shino from behind.

"Oh I know." Instead of the tendril hitting Shino, it curved around him and returned to attacking Kurogiri.

"You thought you could use the same trick you used on Thirteen, but unlike Thirteen's quirk I have full control over my quirk's moves.

"This just means I have to try harder." Kurogiri retorted.

While the two opponents clashed, a group consisting of Bakugo, Uraraka, and Sero used the side of the platform to sneak up behind Kurogiri who was distracted with Shino's attacks that he didn't notice a few of the students jump to the side.

After reaching a far enough point, the three students silently climbed up and used some of the debris from the broken door to hide their presence as they approached Kurogiri.

Seeing his friends move, Shino focused his attacks on one side of kurogiri as to force an opening for the group to attack.

When the group finally reached enough distance Bakugo jumped at Kurogiri shouting "DIE." and blasting him with the strongest explosion he could make without injuring the other students.

The blast created enough force to reveal what looked like a metallic cylinder where the mist seemed to be originating from.

"Don't you kids ever learn, your attacks don't work on me." Irritation was clear in Kurogiri's voice.

"We do learn. You're the one that needs to learn not underestimate us. NOW URARAKA." Shino signaled for Uraraka who jumped on the metallic object touching it with her pads and erasing its gravity.

As Kurogiri started to float helplessly he tried to attack Shino on last time when Sero shot his tape catching Kurogiri then started to wrap him up making sure there was no way for the mist to escape.

"FINALLY." Shouted Shino as he fell on his back exhausted. Controlling the tendrils was much less complex than multiple human bodies but with the number of them and the speed he had to move them to keep Kurogiri in line, it took a toll on him.

"Are you ok Shino?" Uraraka came to check on him with a worried expression.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just tired." Shino assured her as he stood up and went to check the situation with the other villains.

"Can we escape now please?" Asked a terrified Mineta.

"I'm afraid that's no longer an option." Shino answered.

"What? Why?" the students got worried.

"Now that we captured one of the high ranking members of the villains, we can't just leave him. Also we have an injured teacher and none of us are as fast as Iida, if we try to escape they would catch up to us no time."

"So we'll just stay here?"

"That's not an option either. There are villains throughout the whole site; we'd be like sitting ducks."

"So we're still doomed!" the happiness of their recent victory was brought down by the reality of their situation.

"Just give me a moment to think, I'll figure this out." Shino looked on at the battlefield in front of him thinking of how to get out of this situation with the least amount of damage possible then looked at his classmates. And after a few minutes of thinking an idea presented itself to him but it was a dangerous one and he knew his classmates wouldn't like it much.

"Mineta, for how long can your balls stay sticky?"

"About two to three hour. Why?" Mineta was confused by the sudden question.

"I'll tell you in a minute. Yaoyorozu, can you make electronics with your quirk?"

"Yes, if I know their components and how they work I can make them." The class was starting to wonder what their vice-president was thinking.

"Okay listen guys; I think the only way is to go on the offensive." The looks of surprise and worry were what he expected but he had no other option.

"ARE YOU CRAZY? These are actual villains. We'll be killed if go out there." Mineta shouted.

"I assume you have a plan Shino?" Yaoyorozu asked still not sure if this is the right decision.

"Of course I do. But you have to follow my commands and what I tell you."

"AND WHO DIED AND APPOINTED YOU LEADER." Bakugo objected.

"I'm the vice-president of this class and as long as there are no teachers and the president is unavailable then I'm the one in charge." Bakugo scoffed and walked away. Shino sighed; he knew it wouldn't be easy.

"Look guys, I know you're scared, I understand that but you have to remember that Mr. Aizawa is fighting hordes of villains on his own right now to protect us, Thirteen got injured protecting us, and Iida is running as fast as he can to call for help. We have to do something too, aren't you supposed to be aspiring heroes, so it's your time to prove yourselves." Shino's speech seemed to motivate them a little.

"Let's at least hear his plan. We might agree with it." Midoriya finally spoke. The rest of the class was reluctant but agreed to listen.

"Thanks guys, now the plan is simple. We will split into teams with each team having a specific mission to complete."

"Wouldn't splitting put us at a disadvantage? It's what the villains wanted to do from the start." Yaoyorozu argued

"Not exactly, the villains wanted to send us to zones where they have the advantage and the element of surprise. But now we have the ability to choose where to go and the element of surprise on our side. They came here to ambush us and won't expect us to ambush them instead." Shino's argument seemed compelling.

"So what are the teams?" Asked Uraraka.

"We have six teams, the scouters' team consists of Hagakure and Koda, their mission is to find the villains hiding throughout the site. But they will not approach them."

"Wouldn't it be better to send either Jiro or Shoji instead?" Questioned Yaoyorozu.

"No, I need Jiro with Kaminari and Aoyama on Kurogiri watch duty; we don't know the extent of his quirk and must never let out guard down. Their quirks would be the most suited to subdue him in his weakened state."

"And what about Shoji?"

"He will go with Midoriya, Tsu, Sero, and Mineta on the capture team. Their mission is immobilizing any unconscious villains laying around. We need to make sure they don't join the fight again." The class now started to see where Shino was going with this.

"Makes sense." Tsuyu commented.

"The assault team consists of Bakugo, Todoroki, Kirishima, and Tokoyami. Their job is simple; after the scouters locate the villains they will attack and take them out as fast as possible then we call the capturing team to secure the villains."

"I see, these four have the quirks most suited for combat. What about the others?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"You, Uraraka, and Ashido will take care of Thirteen, make sure her injuries aren't life-threating and that she is stable. We don't know how long the ambulances will take to arrive."

"Okay." The three girls said together.

"Lastly, I, Sato, and Ojiro will stand guard here since it's our safe zone in case any villain tries to escape or if there are villains outside and they try to enter. After I recover some of my stamina I will join the assault team."

"Your plan is good but it relies on constant coordination between the teams. How are we gonna achieve that?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"Can you make us 6 walkie-talkies? One for each team."

"Yes, but the villains probably blocked all communications." Yaoyorozu argued.

"Yeah man I tried to use my quirk to connect with anything outside of the site but couldn't." Added Kaminari.

"That might be true but we're not gonna use the same frequency and we won't be connecting with the outside world. I doubt the villains are jamming low frequencies too. Just give it a try."

Having nothing to lose, Yaoyorozu made the walkie-talkies and tried communicating between them and to her surprise it worked.

"It's working!" Yaoyorozu exclaimed.

"Good now each team take one walkie-talkie and don't forget your missions. Also, no need to put yourselves in danger, if you feel overwhelmed simply retreat. And keep on updating so we can coordinate."

The class split into their teems with Jiro's taking Kurogiri to far corner and the assault, scout, and capture teams heading out to do their missions. Finally, things are starting to look up for the heroes-in-training.

As time went on, the coordinated attack of class 1-A managed to clear most of the zones in the USJ, the assault team was now in the landslide zone, and it was looking like this would be over soon. But suddenly Shino gets a call on the walkie-talkie.

"**This the capture team, we have an emergency.**" It was Midoriya and distress was clear in his voice. There was also some kind of thumbing sound in the background.

"Speak Midoriya. First tell me your location then the emergency." Shino was just starting to worry.

"**We are at the far right side of the sinking ship zone.**" The words Midoriya said next sent a chill down Shino's spine and froze the other students in horror.

"**Mr. Aizawa was defeated by the villains. He suffered serious injuries at the hand of the black monster with the beak. They plan to kill him. We have to save him.**"

"Midoriya don't move I'll send the assault team to your location." Shino knew what was going on inside Midoriya's head and didn't like it.

"**They won't make it in time, I have to interfere.**"

"MIDORIYA DON'T DO ANYTHING." Shino knew shouting wasn't gonna stop Midoriya.

"**He lift Shino, what should we do now?**" Tsu asked with an even tone but Shino could feel her and the other's fear.

"GOD DAMNIT MIDORIYA! Tsu stay where you are and try to assist Midoriya. I'll send the assault team and come myself."

"**Okay.**"

"SCOUT TEAM RETURN TO THE SAFE ZONE IMMEDIATELY." Shino ordered.

"**Roger that.**" Hagakure answered.

"ASSAULT TEAM MOVE TO THE FAR RIGHT SIDE OF THE SINKING SHIP ZONE. MR. AIZAWA HAS BEEN DEFEATED AND MIDORIYA IS TRYING TO SAVE HIM."

"**WHAT?! WHAT THE FUCK DOES DEKU THINK HE'S DOING?!" **Bakugo shouted clearly more angry than normal as the sound of him blasting a villain was heard.

"NO TIME TO TALK, MOVE AND I WILL MEET YOU THERE." After finishing his instructions Shino jumped from the platform, created floating skateboard, and took some of the gold in the platform. He was not a full stamina, far from it actually, but he had to move quick if he wanted to save his teacher and classmates.

"**We might be late, this zone has way more villains then the others and they all posses dangerous combat-oriented quirks.**" Said todoroki.

"Damn it, fine finish as fast as you can and join me."

Shino hoped from the bottom of his heart that Midoriya was overestimating the situation like he always did. But upon arriving at their location he discovered that it was quite the opposite. On the ground was a bruised and bloodied Aizawa with his face planted in the ground, his right arm was twisted in so many places in very wrong directions and the whole scene made Shino cringe. His left arm wasn't any better, the skin on his elbow was cracking and falling off and turning to dust. Shino guessed it was the hands villain's, Shigarakai's, quirk since the beak villain didn't seem to use such a quirk.

The capture team were all on the ground but didn't to have any serious injuries. The only exception to that was Midoriya who was getting his hand slowly crushed by the beak villain as he screamed in pain.

"STOP! RELEASE HIM AT ONCE." Shino threatened as he molded his gold into sharp spears.

"Another bug came to be crushed." Shigaraki laughed.

"I SAID RELEASE HIM AT ONCE BEFORE I DRIVE THESE SPEARS INTO YOUR BODY." Shino repeated his word with anger in his voice.

"You're going to kill me? Not a very heroic of you." Shigaraki said in a mocking tone.

"I don't need to hear about what's heroic from a villain like you." Shino got ready to unleash his spears. "I won't kill you but I'll make sure you won't be able to escape." Shino aimed his spears at Shigaraki's arms and legs and shot the spears as fast as he could. However, the spears didn't reach Shigaraki but they collided with the beak villain's body as it released Midoriya from its grasp to intercept the attack aimed at it boss.

"What?!" Shino was surprised at the villains speed and the fact that it toke the hit for Shigaraki without hesitation.

"Good job Nomu. Your automatic protective program is working fine." Shigaraki patted Nomu's back as it grabbed the spears impaling it and removed them with ease. In addition, just as fast as those wounds were created they were healed as if they never happened.

"What the hell is that thing? It has a super strength quirk and a regeneration quirk? How is that even possible?" Shino couldn't believe his eyes, the mere idea of someone with multiple quirks was unheard of.

"This is a modified human with multiple quirks; you can call it a Nomu. This one in particular was made to kill All-Might but it seems we won't get the chance so we'll just kill you brats instead. Think of it as sending a message." Shigaraki started laughing manically.

'_This thing was made to kill All-Might? Not defeat, kill. How am I supposed to fight something like that while protecting the others?_' Shino's head was swarming with ideas, plans to fight the monstrosity that stood before him but none of them seemed to work out.

Luckily for him, Tsu and Shoji regained their consciousness and started picking up Aizawa and the other students and run. When Shigaraki noticed this, he ordered the Nomu to attack. Thinking fast, Shino threw a spear at Shigaraki forcing the Nomu to act on its automatic protective program and come to its master's aid.

"You're a persistent bug you know that? Do want to be killed by Nomu that much?" Shigaraki was starting to get irritated.

"No one is getting killed today. What's gonna happen is that I'm gonna beat you and your pet science show." He could hear from the walkie-talkie that Tsu and the others managed to reach the safe zone, which gave him a small sense of relief. All he had to do is stall the villains in front of him until help arrives.

"You think you can beat a Nomu that was designed to kill All-Might? That's what that green-haired idiot thought before Nomu gave him a dose of reality." Shino's blood boiled with anger. Shigaraki had the nerve to call Midoriya's sacrifice idiotic.

Before either of them could move to attack, a loud noise was heard from the direction of the safe zone. Shino feared the worst but was reassured when Yaoyorozu spoke to him the word he's been waiting to hear since the start of this incident.

"**All-Might is here. And more back up is on it's way!**"

Thanks to the class's work, All-Might didn't have to waste time on small fries and went straight for the boss appearing in front of Shino without him even noticing but he didn't have his trade-mark smile trading it for a scowl that would scare the most hardened criminals.

"You have done well young Shinohara. Now allow me take care of this. You can rest now." The number one hero's words put Shino at ease until he remembered Shigaraki's words about the nomu.

"Be careful All-Might, they came here to kill you and that thing is their secret weapon. It isn't human and has multiple quirks, a regeneration and a super strength quirk; it was designed to kill you."

"Thank you young Shinohara and don't worry, evil will never win. Now please step back so you won't get caught in this."

Shino heeded his teacher's word and backed to a distance where he was safe but was also close enough to interfere if needed.

"Finally, you're here to breathe you last breath All-Might!" Shigaraki exclaimed while excitedly laughing.

"You think you're the first to try to come after my life? However, you made a fatal mistake targeting my students and you will pay for it dearly."

All-Might moved to attack the Nomu delivering a powerful punch that rocked the ground to its face. Much to All-Might's surprise and Shigaraki's delight, the Nomu took the punch head-on and didn't seem affected by it at all.

"Didn't you hear the brat? This Nomu was designed to kill you. It has shock absorption quirk too. You will never be able to beat him." The Nomu moved to deliver a punch of its own, which actually hurt All-Might and sent back a few steps.

Shino was about to join the fight when he was stopped by a hand from All-Might.

"Don't interfere young Shinohara, this enemy is different than the others. You won't be able to defeat him. it seems I have to use my full power." All-Might moved again to continue the fight.

Shino kept on watching as the two behemoths duked it out and slowly he noticed that All-Might was pushing the monster back the change on Shigaraki's face -what he could see of it anyway- from glee to worry was evident that he wasn't imagining it.

Just when Shino was starting to think it would finally be over, he got another call from the walkie-talkie.

"**Shino be careful Kurogiri has escaped.**" Shino couldn't believe this was happening, it was like life was toying with him or something.

"How?!"

"**Instead of trying to fight us he created a portal beneath him and escaped before we could catch him.**"

Just as he heard this, the object of question appeared on Shigaraki's side. '_Oh just perfect._'

Shigaraki looked at the object in annoyance and started to rip the tape sealing. As soon as he finished the dreaded black mist came out. "Good morning Kurogiri, did you enjoy your nap? THE NOMU IS LOSING GO AND ASSIST IT."

"Right away Tomura Shigaraki." Kurogiri created a portal teleporting the upper half of the Nomu allowing it to dodge All-Might's punch and appear in front of his torso, grabbing it, and stabbing it with his claws deep in it causing the pro hero to scream in pain and cough some blood and steam coming off him for some reason.

Shino watched in horror as the pro hero was losing the fight. There had to be something he could do, right? Then an idea came to him and he moved to enact it immediately.

As Shigararki resumed laughing, thinking he had finally won, five golden spears sped past him stabbing into the Nomu's back who didn't seem to care.

"You again brat, are that desperate to save your hero." Shigaraki was more annoyed than ever.

"I would advise against underestimating this one Tomura Shigaraki, he has a strong mind." Kurogiri warned Shigaraki.

"What are you talking about Kurogiri? He's just a kid; you're just a sore loser." Shigaraki retorted.

Both of them stopped talking however when they noticed the Nomu has stopped trying to dig his claws deeper in All-Might's torso. Moreover, they were full on surprised when it started releasing its grip on the pro hero.

"What the hell is happening? Nomu, why did you stop your assault? KILL HIM NOW."

"Sorry but that's not gonna happen. Not when I'm here." Shino caught the two villains' attention and Shigaraki looked at him with rage in his eye.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" Shigaraki demanded an answer.

"I infiltrated his body with my gold. Usually that would be fatal for any human being but with your Nomu's regeneration, it was no problem. And besides, it's not human anyway." Shino was barely standing, forcing the monster to move against its will was hard and he didn't have the stamina to do it for long. He did his best to hide it though as to not tell the villains he was at his limit.

"YOU WILL BAY FOR THIS!" Shigaraki jumped at Shino trying to touch him with his hand, which Shino assumed, was how he activated his quirk and he couldn't move or his grip on the Nomu would be released. But a wall of ice came between the two saving Shino from a painful death.

When Shigaraki's attention shifted to the source of the ice wall with hatred in his eyes he saw Todoroki. However, before he could react, an explosion threw him and Kurogiri back forcing Kurogiri to close the portal and the Nomu to return to its original shape. And right in time, it was hit in the eyes by Kirishima and Tokoyami, which seemed to hurt it and soften his resistance to Shino's control. With the monster's resistance all but ending, he was able to force it to release its grip completely on All-Might.

"Young heroes, you have done well. it seems that I have underestimated your potential." All-Might turned to a fuming Shigaraki. "You see villain, evil will never win as long as there are people willing to fight in the name of justice. There will always be people that will go beyond their limits to save others, that's what we call going PLUS ULTRA!"

Finally free, and with the enemy unable to fight back, All-Might wasted no time in punching the shit out of the Nomu and finish it off with one last punch to its stomach sending it flying through the USJ roof. The number one hero then knelt in pain from his injures as the steam that had stopped emitting from him returned even thicker.

With the threat of the Nomu gone, Shino fell on his back unable to move his legs and tired from this long day. That's when he heard Shigaraki screech in anger at his secret weapon's loss.

"YOU CHEATED! YOU AND ALL THESE MINI-BOSSES THAT KEPT INTERFERING WITH ME." Shigaraki jumped to attack the weakened hero but a bullets shot through his hand and leg stopping him in his tracks.

"THE HEROES HAVE ARRIVED." Shino couldn't be happier to hear Iida's voice as he stood with the teachers of U.A. at last, this nightmare of a day could end.

Seeing no other choice, Kurogiri jumped on a protesting Shigaraki and opened a portal for both of them to escape.

As the four students went to check on All-Might a wall of cement stopped them as the hero cementos told them that they should not worry about All-Might and return to their classmates which they complied with.

"WE DID IT! WE BEAT THE VILLAINS!" Kirishima shouted in excitement.

"That's great and all but can one of you pick me up? I lost the feeling in my legs and won't be able to move for three to four hours." Shino asked

"Oh! Right, sure thing Shino." Kirishima picked the golden-haired boy on his shoulder and joined the rest of their classmates at the entrance.

The heroes immediately started rounding off the villains class 1-A had captured, dealt with any ones that were lurking around the site, and captured the Nomu All-Might had defeated. The class was taken so the police could hear their testimonies except the injured ones, those waited after Recovery Girl and the medical team took care of their injuries. After that, both the police and heroes for the way they handled the situation praised the class.

Despite surviving the incident with only three people seriously injured -two of which were teachers-, everybody knew the media was gonna have a field day with this if they found out and for some reason they felt like this attack was only the tip of the ice berg but only the future held an answer for their worries.

**Thank you for reading.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Oi Teme: I don't know I that's right, but I feel that it would take a level of dexterity and precision that Shino doesn't have -yet- so I didn't go in that route.**

**Chapter 6**

Despite U.A.'s and the police's efforts to keep the USJ incident a secret, someone, somehow was able to get a hold of the information and the news that U.A. was attacked by villains spread throughout the nation like wild fire. Some details were still a secret though, like the students' involvement and the Nomu. To the world, class 1-A was simply the class that survived a villain attack. Nevertheless, that didn't stop the students from feeling proud for their accomplishment.

The students were given the next day after the attack off to relax and so, Shino used his day off with his family and finishing some projects.

One of said projects was the connection between Midoriya and All-Might. Despite the eventful day he had, Shino could not remove the idea from his head. It was too big a revelation to be forgotten. His search led him to a year-long video of a slime villain attack that All-Might dealt with where the villain took a middle school student hostage. Watching the video, Shino recognized the student as Bakugo, he remembered people referring to the explosion boy as the kid from the slime incident but because he doesn't watch the news often he didn't pay it attention to it at the time.

Shino cringed at the sight of Bakugo's face twisted in agony as he was being suffocated by the slime and kept on releasing explosion after explosion in a desperate attempt at freeing himself. The heroes present at the incident were no help either since none of them had a quirk that would allow them to get a hold of the slime. And even the ones that had a chance were occupied with dealing with the flames caused by Bakugo's explosions.

Suddenly, out of nowhere a mob of green hair appeared on screen running towards the slime villain while the heroes yelled for him to stop, it was Midoriya. Shino wasn't surprised by Midoriya's actions as much as he was surprised by him appearing at all, he couldn't remember anybody associating Midoriya with the incident but he didn't care at the time so it might have happened and he simply didn't notice.

As Midoriya approached the villain, he removed his backpack and threw it at him. Normally that would do nothing to the villain but one of Midoriya's notebooks hit the villain's eye, which was about the only part of him that wasn't made of slime and caused him to flinch and slightly release his hold on Bakugo giving him some precious seconds of air. Midoriya then used the opening and started clawing at the villain trying to get the other boy out but to no avail.

Shino found Midoriya's behavior strange, '_Why didn't he use his quirk? He might break his arm but it would have surely blown the slime away. It's not like Midoriya cares much for his own safety when it comes to saving people._' Then he realized that this might be at a point in time when Midoriya probably didn't have his quirk yet. That explain a lot, like why Midoriya seemed to have no control over his quirk. If he got less than a year ago then he probably didn't get to use it much.

It didn't take long for the villain to recompose himself and notice Midoriya trying to take his prey away. The villain raised his hand ready to finish off the now trembling Midoriya and Shino was getting anxious. He didn't worry much before because the video said All-Might will save the day but as time went on the number one hero didn't show up and none of the other heroes looked like they were gonna move to save the two boys.

Right as the villain's attack was about to hit Midoriya, a tall muscular figure with blond hair appeared in front of him taking the hit.

"FINALLY!" Shino yelled in relief and excitement, but immediately he noticed something was off with All-Might. For starters, the same steam he saw emit from him at the USJ was visible again although it was hard to notice among the smoke from the fire but it was still visible. Secondly, Shino could've sworn he saw All-Might shrink a little before returning to normal. He rewound that part and sure enough, for a moment All-Might's figure shrunk as the steam emitted before he returned to normal.

The video ended with All-Might punching the slime villain so hard he created a tornado and then made it rain saving both Midoriya and Bakugo in the process.

Shino didn't know what to think. On one hand, the video gave him a time frame for when Midoriya might have gotten his quirk and his first meeting with All-Might. On the other hand, the video didn't answer the most important question, why did All-Might give his quirk to Midoriya? Shino knew it had something to do with this incident, All-Might probably saw the hero Midoriya could become and decided to give him the power to do so but the question still remained. Why would All-Might give up his power at all? In addition, a new question now presented itself to Shino. "What's up with the steam? Is it some sort indicator or something?"

He decided to focus on that part for now and started checking news, interviews, and articles about the number one hero to see if the steam or any sort of time limit was sighted or talked about.

After hours of searching, Shino only found a couple of fan theories that didn't make sense and photos and videos of the hero that had the steam emitting from him with some dating back to about six years and nothing else that could help him.

Just as he was about to give up and stop for the day, he happened upon an article that talked about the decline in All-Might's public appearances. Reading the article, it had multiple statistics that showed that All-Might's hero activities like fighting villains, going on interviews, and doing speeches had had a sharp decline that started a few years back until he barely showed up in public unless to fight a big villain and then disappear fast. The article also calculated that since that decline, the maximum amount of time All-Might appeared a day was roughly three hours.

If Shino had read this article before meeting Midoriya and hearing his words to Bakugo, he would have called it madness or just a crazy theory. In fact, several people had commented that exact thing on the article. But it all aligned too well the information he had. "Something happened to All-Might that made him unable to use his power freely so he needed someone to carry the torch and he found Midoriya on that day and seeing his heroic actions he decided he would be a suitable successor." That was his theory and if it was correct then he might have discovered one of the world's biggest secrets. He knew no one must find this so he deleted all the information he had collected, It concerned him that the article still remained for anyone to find but it was very obscure and without the information Shino had, no one would be able to see the connection so he let it be. He and decided to go back to his other projects to finish them before he had to go make dinner.

The next day was a normal school day and to Shino's surprise was pretty calm, he had feared that he and his classmates would be surrounded by news reporters trying to get more details out of them but since most of the details about their actions were still a secret the media might not have cared much.

As he entered the classroom, he was greeted by Midoriya who didn't look him in the eye instead looking at the ground with a frown on his face.

"What's up Midoriya? Is something wrong?"

"W-Well I j-just wanted to say I'm sorry." Shino raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Sorry for what exactly?"

Midoriya looked to the side with guilt in his eyes.

"I disobeyed your order and it resulted in Asui, Mineta, Shoji, and Sero getting hurt and I wasn't even able to defeat the villains or save Mr. Aizawa. I was useless." Midoriya's eyes were pained.

Shino smiled at his friend and placed his hand on his shoulder, "Midoriya you did nothing wrong." Shino said with a reassuring voice.

Midoriya looked up finally meeting Shino's eyes, "But I…I couldn't d-do anything."

"Not true. You were right, neither the assault team nor I were gonna arrive to save Mr. Aizawa in time. If you hadn't acted the villains might have actually killed him. Also, Tsu told me you saved her when Shigaraki was about to attack her. If that's not the act of a hero I don't know what is."

"I told him but he wouldn't listen, kero." Tsu said behind Midoriya.

"As soon as we arrived he started apologizing." Sero added as he and Shoji joined the group.

"We told him it wasn't his fault but he wouldn't listen." Said Shoji.

"Asui-" Midoriya started but was cut off by Tsu.

"Call me Tsu."

"Ah r-right. T-Tsu, Sero, and Shoji you wouldn't have been hurt in the first place if I didn't foolishly charge at the enemy." Midoriya argued.

"I gave them the order to assist you so if we're gonna blame someone it would be me," Midoriya opened his mouth to object but was stopped by Shino's hand. "Let me finish. To be honest, there might have been a better way to handle the situation but in the end, what's important is that you saved Mr. Aizawa and the injuries your group sustained were minimal thanks to you. You can't argue with the results Midoriya."

Midoriya didn't have a response for Shino's argument.

"Thanks guys." He seemed to lighten up.

"No problem, just don't go charging at the enemy without a plan okay?"

"I'll try."

The group took their seats and waited to see who would be their teacher in place of Mr. Aizawa since he was injured.

As the bell ringed signing the start of homeroom, the door to the class opened and in came a man wrapped from head to toe in bandages with his hair being the only visible part of his body. It was the supposedly heavily injured Aizawa.

"Mr. Aizawa! What are you doing here?" Asked some of the students in shock.

"How did they even allow you to get out of the hospital looking like this?" Shino asked holding a laugh as to not disrespect the teacher.

"My wellbeing is irrelevant; right now you should worry about yourselves. Your fight isn't done yet." The teacher's voice was somewhat muffled by the bandages.

The class tensed up at the ominous warning. '_Oh what now?_' Shino thought.

"The sports festival is coming in two weeks and you should be getting ready." The atmosphere changed from worry to excitement in an instant as everyone started cheering with the exception of Shino who just had a confused look on his face.

"What's so important about the sports festival to get you all this excited?"

The cheers stopped as the students looked at their classmate with blank stares; even Aizawa couldn't hide his surprise.

"What?" Shino didn't understand why everyone was staring at him, did he say something weird?

"You're kidding right? Do you actually not know about the U.A. sports festival?" Kirishima asked still in shock.

"No, enlighten me."

"It's only the most important event in the year, watched by everyone throughout the world. In the past, it was the Olympics but with the rise of quirks the U.A. sports festival took its place. The classes are separated by year and made to compete with each other in a series of competitions." Midoriya, the living hero encyclopedia, took this chance to talk about the event.

"And it's where many heroes will be watching to look for promising youth to take under their wing and train them. Most famous heroes now did well in the sports festival." Aizawa added.

"How have you not heard about this Shino?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"Well I don't get out of home much unless for work, training, or grocery shopping." Shino awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

"What about school? Surely people would talk about it there." Ashido questioned.

"I was mostly home-schooled and didn't go to school unless for exams." Shino was getting uncomfortable, if he knew this turn into an investigation about his life, he would've kept his mouth shut. None of his classmates seemed to notice though.

"Why? Did something happen to force you to be home-schooled?"

"It's nothing important, really. You don't have to worry about it." Shino hoped they would get that he didn't want to talk about it.

Fortunately, Aizawa seemed to understand and stopped any more questioning.

"At any case, the festival is coming and it's your chance to show the world what you're made of so make sure to be ready. Class dismissed."

After Aizawa left the room, the students of 1-A started talking about how excited they were for the festival, especially Uraraka who seemed to have a personality flip from an easy-going and cheerful girl to a competitive and fierce fighter which honestly concerned some of her classmates.

When lunchtime came around Midoriya, Shino, Uraraka, and Iida were heading to the eatery while still talking about the upcoming festival.

"Aren't you excited for the sports festival Deku?" Uraraka asked excitedly.

"I am excited but I'm nervous too. I mean, the entire world will be watching us."

"I will do my best and get scouted by a pro and I will get enough money to give my parents the easy life they deserve." Uraraka said with determination that the three boys couldn't help but admire.

"Indeed, the festival is an opportunity to shine and might be where you really start your career. This is why we joined U.A., to become heroes." Iida said with a smile while fixing his glasses.

"That reminds me, Shino, you never told us why you wanted to become a hero." The question came out of nowhere and it took Shino by surprise that it took him a couple of seconds to be registered.

"Oh yeah…I didn't." Shino looked away as to not meet his friends' eyes.

'_And I don't wanna talk about it._' Was what he thought as he silently wished for a miracle to come and save him.

The miracle came in the form of All-Might suddenly appearing from behind a corner catching the four students by surprise.

"Hello Young Midoriya." Greeted the hero.

"A_All-Might?! What are you doing here?" Midoriya was still stunned by the pro hero's sudden appearance.

"Lunch! Care to join me?" All-Might gave what could be considered a puppy doll eyes, which Uraraka couldn't help but point out was adorable.

"Y-Yeah sure." Midoriya left the group and joined All-Might.

"I wonder what does All-Might want with Deku?" Uraraka asked and Shino had a pretty good idea of why the number one hero wanted to eat lunch with Midoriya but there was no time to waste, he had to use this opportunity.

"Oh! I remembered I have something important to do! I'll see you guys later okay." Shino lied.

"Wait what about lunch? You can't work on an empty stomach." Iida asked Shino before he ran off.

"Don't worry I brought my own lunch with me." Shino showed the box that was in his hand, had brought some of his cooking to have Lunch Rush taste-test it to see if there was room for improvement and maybe ask for recipes but now it was used as an excuse to get him out of the conversation.

a couple of minutes of running and Shino stopped when he was sure he was alone, he hated lying and deceiving his friends but he didn't want to talk about his reason to becoming a hero. He doubted they would stop asking since it was a big topic and considering the investigation that he was under just a few hours ago, he wasn't too keen on another one breaking out.

"You seem out of breath." A female voice came from behind him.

Shino turned around fearing it was one of his classmates here to continue questioning him but sighed in relief when it turned out to be Kendo.

"Oh! Hey there Kendo, why aren't you in the eatery?" The tightness in Shino's chest returned.

"I could be asking you the same thing Shino, you were running just now, is there something wrong?" Kendo was both curious and worried.

"No, my classmates were just on my case because I didn't know how important the sports festival is and I want to get away from it all." Shino decided not tell her about the exchange between him and Iida and Uraraka.

Kendo couldn't hide her surprise since the event was so famous everybody at least heard about it, but right in front of her was someone who clearly didn't. She wanted to ask how but she could tell it was a sensitive subject for him, why else would he avoid his own classmates?

"Aren't you gonna ask me how come I don't know about the sports festival?" Shino was expecting another stream of questions.

"You don't look comfortable with the subject so I won't pry. When you feel like telling me I will listen." The answer surprised Shino. They didn't know each other for long, in fact they only met once as far as he can remember, but she understood that he didn't want to talk about it and didn't push it. At that moment the tightness in his chest turned to fuzzy feeling like someone was tickling his heart or something.

"Thanks."

"No problem, but if you're not going to the eatery then what about lunch?"

"Oh! I actually brought my own food today." Shino showed her the box in his hand.

Shino then noticed she had a similar box with her, "You brought your own food too?" he pointed at the box.

"Yeah the portions Lunch Rush makes are always too big or too small for me so I end up either too full or still hungry. So I decided to start bringing my food from home. But I'm not a very good cook so I don't know about the taste." Kendo almost sounded disappointed.

"Well I intended to ask Lunch Rush to taste-test this so I brought a variety of stuff, if you want I can share with you." Shino offered.

"You can cook?" Kendo was surprised

"Yeah, it's very calming when you get the hang of it. So, wanna share?"

Kendo considered her options and seeing no reason to refuse, she took Shino up on his offer. The two sat down and opened their food boxes.

Comparing the two boxes was like comparing gold and nickel, while Kendo's box was a little bit messy and lacked variety, Shino's box was organized as to not let anything mix. The box contained rise balls, some see food, egg rolls, and two hamburger steaks.

Kendo was more than impressed by how good the food looked. "Here help yourself." Kendo toke one of the egg rolls and was so engulfed in the taste that she couldn't help but try the other stuff to see if it would taste just as good, and indeed it did.

"Wow this is really tasty, you're good!"

"Thank you, I aim to please."

"Compared to your food, mine won't even taste half as good." Kendo looked at her box.

"Let's try and see." Shino took some of the rice.

"You don't have to, I told I'm not good at cooking and it won't taste good."

"You won't improve unless you know what you did wrong." Shino ate the rice and his face contorted with how salty it was.

"See, told you it won't taste good." Kendo offered him some water to wash the saltiness.

"You just added too much salt; the rice itself was well-made actually."

"And how am I supposed to know that?"

"It comes with experience. Don't worry; if you practice I'm sure you will be a good cook in no time."

"Really?" Kendo wasn't sure if he said that just to console her or if he meant it.

"Yeah, and if you want I could give you some easy recipes to train with and until then I could bring more food with me so you wouldn't have to starve while you train."

"Are you sure about that? Wouldn't it be too much trouble? I can still eat the things I make." Kendo didn't like the idea of relaying on a someone she just met and didn't know very well.

"It's no trouble at all. And unless you plan on eating the rice you just made, I would suggest you take the offer. The choice is yours in the end; I will give you the recipes anyway." Shino said casually.

Kendo looked at her very salty rice and the idea of eating it every day encouraged her to take Shino's offer.

"Fine, but only until l learn to make decent food okay."

"Deal. Now, you want the recipes on paper or your phone?"

"A paper might get damaged or lost, let's exchange numbers instead." Kendo was somewhat unsure of this. It's not like he's the first boy she gave her number to, the boys in her class asked for her number to create a group chat for the class. However, he was the first boy she gave her number not for school reasons but for personal reasons. He seemed nice enough and not at all a creep so she supposed it was fine.

"Okay."

After they exchanged numbers, Shino sent her a couple of recipes that he had on his phone. "You can start with these and if you need anything specific just ask."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

A few minutes of silence came between them until Kendo finally spoke.

"Shino can I ask you a question? It's fine if you don't want to answer." Kendo was fidgeting with her fingers.

Shino thought for a moment, "Sure, shoot."

"What did it feel like to face real villains? I mean, we're being trained to do so in the future but it's not even the first week and you guys came face to face with the real deal. Were you afraid? How did you handle it?"

"That's more than one question you know." Shino joked.

Kendo lightly hit his shoulder. "They are all the same question?" the mood became a little lighter.

"Well to tell you the truth it was more nerve-wrecking than scary, the attack was a surprise and we were totally unprepared. Did I feel scared? No not really, but some of my classmates were and it's understandable to be afraid but you have to push through and act despite the fear. That's what I think at least."

"A lot of people now think that because class 1-A survived a real villain attack that they are superior to us in class 1-B and it's starting to get to my classmates."

"That's a fact-less rumor so you and your class should just ignore it." Shino was a little bit angry that people would start rumors like this.

"I know. But the others don't seem to get that and they're directing it towards you guys."

"Then they should focus instead on sports festival since it is their chance to prove themselves. I know you can do it." Shino gave her a reassuring smile, which seemed to encourage Kendo.

"Yeah we'll show the world how strong we really are." Kendo stood up with fist raised in the air in a determined pose that Shino couldn't help but smile at.

"Can't wait to see it. But be warned I will not hold back." Shino extended his fist to Kendo, which she pumped with her own. "We won't lose."

At that moment, the bell rang signaling the end of lunchtime and the end of their conversation.

"Well, see you in the next meeting Shino." Kendo said as she picked her lunch box and started heading to her class.

"Yeah I'll see you then, don't forget to train with the recipes I gave you." Shino waved with a smile.

"I won't, don't worry." Once again, Shino felt disappointment that she had to leave and wished they were in the same class. Nevertheless, there was nothing he could do about it so he decided to make the most out the time they did spend together.

What the two teens didn't know was that someone was watching their conversation.

As Kendo entered her classroom she noticed that her classmate Monoma was again trying to rally the class against class 1-A. Shino's word rang in her ears once more causing her to smile.

"And what are you smiling for?" Tokage asked from behind Kendo almost giving her a heart attack.

"What are you talking about? Smiling, I wasn't smiling." Kendo walked away from the green haired girl who was smirking, "Yeah sure."

'_Why was I smiling? It's not like he said anything special. He was just encouraging me as a friend, right? There was nothing more to it, right?_' These thoughts along with Shino's smile kept swirling in Kendo's mind throughout the day.

When Shino returned to the classroom, he was thankful that Iida and Uraraka apparently had forgotten about their question or at least chose not push it further and classes continued as normal.

When Shino returned home, he told Mother of his day and encounter with Kendo, and how he felt.

"So, you're sure you like-like her?"

"Yeah I think so, or rather I feel so. Just talking to her was enough for me to see how great of a person she is. She had this calming aura that you couldn't help but be drawn to, and when she got fired up I could feel my heart explode with euphoria. It felt amazing." Shino had big smile on his face.

"Well good for you my boy but I can't believe you already have her phone number you move fast Shino." The elder woman nudged Shino's side with a smirk.

"It's not like that, I was just helping her. It's not like she likes me back you know." Shino didn't like the idea of Kendo not liking him back but it's not like he could force her. The only thing he can do is be the man she deserves.

"Don't worry about it too much Shino; everything will work out in the end, trust me." This returned the smile on Shino's face.

Mother turned to walk away but stopped and turned back to Shino, "By the way, detective hamura called and said he wants you to call him as soon as you can. You should probably tell him about Kendo too." Shino's eyes widened in surprise.

"Really?! I thought he would be too busy right now."

"He is, but he said it didn't matter. He wanted to make sure you're fine."

Detective Hamura was the one responsible for Shino's case and over time became the closest thing to a father figure Shino had. Due to his very busy schedule, he doesn't visit often and resorts to phone calls to check on him but he always make sure to visit on holidays and birthdays.

Shino rushed to the phone and dialed the number he had memorized and waited for an answer.

After a couple of minutes of waiting, the line picked up and gruff voice greeted from the other side.

"**Hello.**"

"Hello detective Hamuro, it's Shino how are you doing?"

"**Oh Shino it's been a while, sorry I couldn't call earlier. I'm doing fine what about you? How is life at U.A.? Congratulations by the way I wish I could have called earlier but I'm very busy as you know. I heard about the attack on the USJ are you okay? Were you hurt?**" The detective sounded very regretful and concerned as he said the last part.

"Don't worry about it I know how busy you could be. And I'm fine, life at U.A. is really fun and I made lots of friend and even met a girl I like."

"**WHAT?!**" The sound of a chair moving and papers falling could be heard. "**DAMN IT! Wait a second Shino.**" After a moment the man returned, "**I'm back, now you said you met a girl you like?**"

"Yeah, her name Kendo and she's in the hero course as well but in a different class."

"**Oh! That's wonderful, good for you Shino. Looks like I have visit as soon as possible so I can give you the **_**talk**_**.**"

"The talk? What is that?" Shino didn't understand.

"**You'll find out when I visit my boy. Anyway, I'm glad you finally living your life. I have to go now, they're calling for me but I will visit the moment I find free time. Say hi to the children for me okay. I will be sure to watch the festival so do your best.**"

"Sure thing. Goodbye."

After the call, Shino went to his room, he wanted to train a bit before dinner, and the smile on face had grown. He was finally moving in life and despite the hurdles; he will become a hero and achieve his goal.

**Thank you for reading.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 7**

The next day was supposed to be normal with the students mainly focusing on their training for the sports festival. However, from the start it didn't look good, Shino was late -by late it means he would arrive about ten minutes before homeroom- because one of his brothers, Yaso, had the bright idea to play video games until the 2AM. It took Shino a while to wake him up, give him a lecture, and take away his console for a week.

When Shino finally arrived to the classroom, he found a big group of students standing in front of the door shouting and protesting '_I smell Bakugo in this._' He thought as he squeezed his way through the crowd and found himself standing next to a boy with wild purple hair and a tired expression that could rival Aizawa's and in front of him was an angry Iida and a concerned Midoriya and Uraraka.

"Okay can anyone explain why there is an angry mob in front of our classroom?" Shino didn't have the best start to his day, he didn't even get to drink his morning coffee and was having a headache from the constant shouting behind him.

"Oh! Good morning Shino." The President of class 1-A greeted. "Well you see, these students came here to see our class after hearing about the USJ incident. But then Bakugo insulted them, calling them extras and that they don't matter." Said blonde growled from his seat at the mention of his name. "And then this guy-" Iida was cut off by the purple-haired boy, "The name is Shinso, it's pretty rude to call a person you just met _this guy_." Iida was taken aback before resuming, "My apologies, Shinso here declared war on our class."

"The sports festival is not just a chance for you guys in the hero department to show off, it's also a chance for us of the other departments to be transferred to the hero course if we do well enough. So watch out class 1-A." Shinso threatened the class.

All Shino could do was raise an eyebrow in response '_That's a rule here?! Wow the sports festival is more important than I thought!_'

Shino didn't dwell on that thought for long, he had a job to do. "Well let's address the first issue concerning Bakugo's behavior okay." Shino stood in front of the crowd of students and bowed his head which took everybody including his own classmates by surprise, "As the vice-president of class 1-A, I apologize for my classmate's disrespectable behavior. Know that it does not reflect the rest of the class in any way and only reflects his own opinions." The students didn't know how to respond to the boy's apology and he didn't give them time to. "As for your declaration of war." Shino turned to Shinso, "If you plan on trying to take our seats then you better bring you're A-game because we will fight to prove we deserve those seats. So I say bring it on."

To say Shinso and the students were surprised by the golden-haired boy's attitude would be an understatement, he didn't show any sign of worry or ill-intent. "Now that this is over, can all of you please move away from the entrance and return to your classes. Homeroom is about to start." Remembering that they still had to go to class, the crowd and Shinso hurried to their own classes.

Not missing a beat, Shino went to the source of his headache, Bakugo.

"And you." Bakugo looked at him with his usual angry stare that Shino got used to by now.

"The fuck do you want?"

Shino rubbed the temples of his nose; he was too coffee-deprived to deal with Bakugo's superiority complex right now, "Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do okay. And I don't care either; just don't drag us with you." Shino warned but only got a tsk in response as the explosion boy turned his head to the window.

Shino couldn't help but think '_This is too early in the morning for this shit._' As he went to his desk and buried his face in it and waited for either death or Aizawa to come. Fortunately, the latter came first.

The rest of the day went relatively normal for Shino with the only important thing is sharing his food with Kendo like they agreed to while they talked about her cooking plunders, what happened in the morning, and their preparations for the festival, which lifted Shino's mood. And once again, both of them didn't notice the figure hiding and watching them. The day ended with Shino returning home and starting his training for the festival. This continued for the two weeks until the festival minus the coffee deprivation and angry students at the class door.

When the day of the festival finally arrived, Shino was more than excited. He had watched some videos of the previous festivals to understand it more and needless to say, he was impressed by the scale of the event. But it was a different thing to watch it on a screen than to actually witness it first-hand. The stadium was huge and even the areas around it were buzzing with life and sound as stalls were everywhere taking advantage of the huge crowds to sell their merchandise. Shino liked the festive feel the event had, he wished his family could be here to see it but since they couldn't he decided to buy them souvenirs after the events.

Class 1-A were all in the waiting room mentally preparing themselves for their first appearance, they all wore the P.E. uniforms since other classes outside of the hero course obviously didn't have hero costumes, Shino had worn a long sleeved shirt under his uniform like he always did, Iida came and announced it was time. As everybody was getting up, Todoroki approached Midoriya with his usual serious stoic expression.

"Hey Midoriya, can I say something?"

"Uh s-sure Todoroki." The taller boy targeting him out of nowhere took Midoriya aback.

"Objectively speaking, I'm clearly stronger than you." The dual-haired boy stated.

"R-right." Midoriya's already low confidence took a hit.

"However, you have All-Might on your side." This caught Shino's attention, '_Does he know about Midoriya and All-Might's connection too?_'

"I won't ask what's happening between you two," Shino relaxed at this, "But know that I will defeat you."

Midoriya was left stunned by Todoroki's declaration of war.

"What's with the declarations of war lately?" Kaminari asked.

"Yeah Todoroki, take it easy will you." Kirishima approached the two boys trying to ease the tension.

"You people don't get it; we're not here to make friends. This is not a team effort." Todoroki pushed Kirishima's arm aside and turned to leave but stopped when Midoriya called out for him.

"I don't know what's on your head or why you think you need to defeat me, and you're definitely stronger than me. In fact, you're probably the student with the most potential out of the entire hero course, everybody is coming at us with everything they have. I will give this everything I have and I will aim of the top too." Midoriya had a determined look on his face.

Todoroki looked like he didn't expect this as a response "Fine."

"Are you all done?" Shino spoke catching everybody's attention, "Does anybody have any other declarations of war or otherwise to make before go out there?" He was met with silence, "Finally, this the first festival I personally see and you people are ruining it. This is a competition not a fight to the death, chill out."

Shino's complete lack of concern surprised some of the students.

"Aren't you a little worried? I mean, what Deku said was true. Everybody is gonna focus on us." Uraraka asked.

"Let them come. As long as I'm doing my best, everything will be fine. Besides, actions speak louder than words. That's how I live my life." Shino answered with a smile.

"I wish we had your level of confidence Shino." Said Yaoyorozu.

"At any rate," Iida finally spoke, "Let's get out there they are waiting for us."

The students finally came out of their designated exit and were met with thousands of people cheering for them as Present Mic introduced each class as they came out along with a very irritated Aizawa that looked like would rather be anywhere else.

After all the classes lined up in their places, the judge of the competition came out with a big billboard behind her. The R-rated hero Midnight, wasted no time in taking a seductive pose with her whip that definitely was not appropriate in front of young teenagers.

'_Seriously? Why her out of all teachers?_' Shino was a little bit annoyed by the hero but the crowd and some of his classmates seemed to enjoy it.

On class 1-B's side, Kendo shook her head at the stupid faces some of the boys in her class were making while staring at Midnight. Her gaze switched to class 1-A and sighed in relief when she saw Shino's uninterested almost-annoyed expression before she caught herself. '_Why was I relieved just now? Why did I look at him in the first place? It's not like I care what he thinks, right?_' Kendo knew the answer and it turned her face crimson with embarrassment.

Throughout the two weeks leading to the festival, Kendo had been training her cooking skill along with her fighting skills. She had reached a point where she didn't need Shino's guidance anymore but she had been enjoying the time she spent with him however short it may be, they even promised to meet at the finals of the festival, and so decided to keep it a secret.

"**First of all, the introductory speech by the representative of the first year students, Katsuki Bakugo.**" Shino face-palmed '_this is not gonna end well._' For the first time, Shino regretted that one point that came between him and the explosion boy.

The ash-blond approached the microphone and with a straight face pledged "**I pledge to….win and be number one.**"

The outrage of the students of the other classes was to be expected. What wasn't expected was Shino jumping on the platform and starting a fight with Bakugo.

"THE HELL BAKUGO?! I TOLD YOU NOT TO INSTIGATE PEOPLE!" Shino grabbed Bakugo by the collar.

"WHY THE FUCK SHOULD I LISTEN TO YOU? IF YOU'RE SCARRED JUST QUIT, THIS IS NO PLACE FOR A COWARD." Bakugo yelled back as he too grabbed Shino by the collar.

"I'M NO COWARD, BUT I DON'T WANT PEOPLE STARRING DAGGERS INTO ME BECAUSE OF YOUR SHIT."

"**SILANCE!**" Midnight's yell and the crack from her whip stopped the fight between the two blonds.

"**You two return to your class immediately.**" Bakugo returned but Shino went for the microphone.

"**Before I return let me say this, as the vice-president of class 1-A and the one that scored second after Bakugo, I apologize for his rude behavior and I wish all of you good luck and do your best.**"

Shino's statement caught many students by surprise. When he came down from the platform, his classmates were waiting for him.

"You scored second in the exam!" Uraraka was surprised and excited.

"Yeah I was behind Bakugo by one point that I regret now since it could have saved us from all of this." Shino shook his head.

"That's so manly! I scored third you know." Kirishima exclaimed.

"I know, and Uraraka scored 4th, Iida scored 7th, Midoriya scored 8th, and Tokoyami scored 10th. I looked at the top ten and memorized their names since they would be my classmates."

"But why does Bakugo have to be a jerk like this, he didn't need to instigate people?" Kirishima wondered.

"It's because he wants them to focus on him."

"What do you mean?" the class was confused by Shino's statement.

"He wants to prove that he is the strongest so he instigates them to make them come at him full force so can defeat them at their strongest."

Bakugo was now staring at Shino and the latter could feel it but decided to ignore it for now.

"Are you sure about that? Sounds like a risky strategy." Yaoyorozu asked.

"We're talking about Bakugo here; risk kinda runs in his blood."

"**Now let's decide what the first competition these younglings would be in.**" Everyone's attention returned to Midnight as she started the machine and it started spinning until stopping on the obstacle race.

"**And the obstacle race it is! The competitors will race on the track around the stadium while various obstacles will be thrown their way, everything is allowed as long as you don't exit the track. Now all competitors go to the designated gate and get ready to start.**"

The students all rushed to the gate to secure a good position. However, as Shino looked at the size of the gate he noticed that there is no way the gate was gonna allow all these students to go at once. Flashbacks of what happened when the school alarm went off played in his mind and he prepared himself. '_Not this time._'

As Shino expected, as soon as the sign signaled the start of the race, all the students rushed through the gate at once and were stuck. But not him, he had waited for everybody to go first then brought out his hovering board and just floated above the crowd being the first to exit the gate. Seconds after Shino got out; he looked behind him to find the ground freezing along with some of the students' feet and Todoroki hot on his trail. Not wanting to give up the first spot just yet, Shino increased his speed to put some distance between him and the icemaker.

Other students like Bakugo, Yaoyorozu, and Kirishima followed the two students at the lead and soon enough, the students reached the first obstacle, the robots from the entrance exam, along with three zero-pointers stood in front of the competitors ready to attack.

While the other students stopped for a moment to take a fighting position, Shino simply maneuvered between the robots dodging a punch from one of the zero-pointers and going under it escaping the fight all together. "Sorry guys, but I have a race to win." As soon as he said that, the zero-pointer was suddenly frozen in ice as Todoroki passed through and again followed Shino. "Come on, give me a break." Shino was speeding again, trying to hold his first position while dodging attacks from an advancing Todoroki as the giant robot he froze fell to the ground blocking the path for the rest of the competitors.

Not long after, Bakugo too caught up with them by using his explosions to float above the wreckage and joined Todoroki in attacking Shino who kept on dodging the series of ice towers and explosions thrown his way. He was saved however when they arrived at the second obstacle, a giant pit that looked like it had no bottom with only a few pillars sticking out and ropes between them that people could use to get across. The two boys at second place had to stop their assault to focus on getting across. Shino on the other hand, didn't find any problems with the obstacle since he had a freaking hover board, he just had to not look down.

Despite needing to focus on getting across, Bakugo somehow found a way to attack Todoroki, breaking the ice bridge he created while still using his blasts to go across.

With Todoroki in third place, Bakugo focused all his attention on catching up with Shino and blasting him to kingdom come. Unfortunately, just when he reached Shino an ice attack came at him as Todoroki approached with a steady pace. The two heroes-in-training clashed once again, each one of them trying to get rid of the other fast so they could focus on the first placeholder.

Speaking of the first placeholder, Shino reached the last obstacle and stopped for a moment, it was a minefield, '_What the hell is this school doing? Giant robots, giant bottomless pits, and now a minefield. Are they trying to kill us or something? Thank god I have my hover board._' That's when he heard explosions getting closer and the air started to get colder. "Well I gotta move now if I want to win this." He hopped on the hover board and made sure he was floating high enough to not trigger the mines.

Dodging the mines would have been easy if Shino didn't have to also dodge the assault of both Bakugo and Todoroki who caught up to him pretty fast and threatened to miss up his balance throwing him to the mines. As they started to gain on him, a huge explosion sounded from the distance as a metallic plate came flying at the two. The plate had one Midoriya on it as he used the explosion to propel himself to second place besides Bakugo and Todoroki.

The two second-place holders didn't appreciate the new competition and moved to get rid of Midoriya as the momentum he gained from the explosion started to go away. Thinking fast, Midoriya used the plate he rode, flipping it and hitting the mines at just the right angle to knock his pursuers back and give himself another boost as he now was running next to Shino in first place.

"Thanks Midoriya, these have been a pain in my ass since the start of this race. But unfortunately, only one can take the first place and it's me." Shino extended a golden pole and threw it in front of Midoriya triggering some mines and forcing Midoriya to dodge while Shino sped to enter the narrow gateway and emerge on the other side taking the first place.

Midoriya came second and followed by him were Todoroki in third place and Bakugo in fourth place. After a while, the rest of the competitors started appearing one after the other.

"YEAH! Number one! That me!" Shino celebrated his first win in the festival by doing some tricks with the hovering board, which seemed to excite the audience.

Back at the orphanage, Mother and the children were cheering for their big brother throughout the race and when it was announced that he got first place, the children screamed so hard some of the neighboring buildings started complaining.

"Good job Shino." Midoriya came to congratulate his friend on winning.

"Thanks Midoriya! You were awesome with the whole explosion thing too; you didn't even use your quirk and landed at second place. It took me by surprise and saved me from Bakugo and Todoroki's attacks. Without you, they would have probably caught up with me." Shino extended a hand.

"It wasn't my intention but glad I helped. Don't expect it again though; I'm here to win too." Midoriya shook Shino's hand although he was blushing from the compliment.

"Won't have any other way, let's both do our best and show the world what we're made of."

While the two teens were in high spirts from their recent victory, Bakugo and Todoroki stared at them with competitive anger silently vowing to even the score.

After all the students reached the finish line, Midnight announced that the results of the race would now be shown on the board.

"**Only the top forty-two students will advance to the next competition.**" The ranking showed where everyone stood and Shino was more than happy to see that Kendo managed to make the cut.

"**Now it time to choose the next competition and the next chance for all of you who advanced to really show your stuff.**" The same screen from before appeared as it rotated fast with all eyes fixed on it.

The screen finally stopped announcing the next competition would be the cavalry battle.

"**And the next competition is the cavalry battle. The rules are simple, the forty-two competitors will spilt into groups of between two and four and each group will be given a headband with a specific number of points on it. The goal is grab the headbands of the other teams to collect points and the top four teams with the highest points will advance to the final competition. As to how the points will be spread, it will depend on your place in the race; the points are divided as multiples of five. And the points assigned to the first place is TEN MILLION."**

Shino's jaw dropped and could instantly feel everybody glaring at him with predatory eyes sending shivers down his spine, '_Well, I'm screwed. That's what I get for showing off._'

**Thank you for reading.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 8**

When the points for the first-place holder were announced Shino was almost worried for his life, he had chastised Bakugo because he didn't want people staring daggers at his back because of him, but it was Shino who caused those stares to focus on him and now even his classmates saw him as prey.

"**You have fifteen minutes to choose your teams, choose wisely since it might be what determines your success. The competition will be ten minutes long. One last thing, while the use of quirks is allowed, it is forbidden to cause the other teams to fall intentionally or injure them.**" Bakugo scoffed at this and looked disappointed.

Shino was desperately looking around for anyone that would join his team, but no one wanted to be with him because that would make them the target of everybody. He glanced at the rest of his classmates and saw Todoroki had already made his team and Bakugo was being swarmed by students wanting to join his team too, even Midoriya was almost done making his team. At this rate, Shino was gonna end up with some random people that were left behind and probably lose right away.

As he was starting to lose all hope, Kendo approached him, "You look depressed for someone who just won the first place."

Shino looked at her with tears threatening to fall, which she couldn't help but think looked cute, "Kendo! Everyone is avoiding me like the plague, at this rate I will lose without even trying!"

"Well I think I can help with that." Kendo said smiling.

Shino perked up at the implications, "Are you sure? Not that I'm complaining or anything, but wouldn't it make you a target too?"

"It will also mean that all eyes will be on our team which means more chances to be scouted if we do well. And I'm not gonna let you go back on our promise just because of this."

"Thanks Kendo, you're a life saver."

"Don't mention it, that's what heroes do." The two pumped fists.

"Now we need just another member, having a team of two isn't enough."

"Found you first-place!" A voice came from behind Shino as a hand was placed on his shoulder.

Shino and Kendo turned around to find a girl with pink locks for hair, eyes shaped like a crossfire, and a wide smile on her face. She was covered in many support items and holding a briefcase in her hand.

"Let me join your team!" To say Shino and Kendo were surprised was an understatement; they were expecting to do some serious convincing to get a third member, not for the member to come to them asking to join.

"And who might you be?" Shino asked the girl.

"My name is Mei Hatsume; I'm from the support course. Let me join your team." Hatsume introduced herself and repeated the request.

"You do realize that it would make you target for all the other teams right?" Shino was curious as to why someone he didn't know would actively try to join his team knowing the risks.

"Exactly! It's the perfect chance for my babies to shine!" Hatsume exclaimed with a face full of excitement.

"Wait, babies? What babies?" Both Shino and Kendo were a little worried about their teammate's choice of words.

"These babies!" Hatsume opened her briefcase to reveal a whole assortment of support items.

"Oh! You meant your inventions." The two relaxed knowing she wasn't a weirdo who would bring a baby to a fight.

"Every inventor's inventions are their babies!" Hatsume took out one of the support items from the briefcase and rubbed it against her cheeks as if it was a real baby.

"I'm starting to have second thoughts about her, should we really allow her in." Kendo whispered to Shino who had a smile on his face.

"Yeah, she might be a little weird but you can't deny the versatility she would bring to our team. Besides, we don't have many options at this point." Shino whispered back.

"True." Kendo nodded and Shino turned back to Hatsume.

"Okay Hatsume, you convinced me. Welcome to the team." Shino extended a hand to Hatsume.

"You won't regret it!" Hatsume violently shook Shino's hand.

"Okay now that it's settled, should we look for another member?" Kendo asked the team leader.

"No, we were pretty lucky to even find Hatsume but I don't think others would be willing and we don't want someone we don't know."

"Fine, then what should we do now? There's still time lift before the start."

"We should work on our game plan, we're the most wanted team and everybody is gonna come after us."

"Kendo, I see you are siding with class 1-A." a voice came from behind the group and Kendo's eyes widened for a second before she turned and narrowed her eyes.

"What do you want Monoma?" the boy in question had short slick blond hair, purple eyes with white pupils, and a permanent smug smile on his face. He had three other students behind him.

"That's the boy you've been telling me about?" Shino examined the boy's appearance.

"Yeah, that's Neito Monoma, the pain of my existence; he has this weird fixation on surpassing your class after the whole USJ incident. And he's really good at railing people."

"I see; my name is Shino nice to meet you." Shino extended a hand to Monoma but he ignored the other blonde and continued talking to Kendo. "Are you betraying 1-B Kendo? As the class president you should have your class's best intention in mind don't you think?"

"For the last time Monoma, this has nothing to do with the class; I simply see that my chances to win are bigger if I join him." Kendo was getting irritated.

Monoma was about to talk when Shino put his hand in front of him, "Not that this meeting hasn't been fun or anything, but me and my team are busy right now making a plan, I suggest you take your team elsewhere and do the same." Monoma looked into Shino's eyes and seeing his seriousness chose to walk away with his team following him.

"Nice guy." Shino said in a sarcastic tone.

"Anyway, now for the competition, the plan we'll use is this…"

"**Time is up ladies and gentlemen; all teams take your positions and wait for the signal.**" Midnight announced.

"**3…2…1…begin!**" the siren rang signaling the start of the competition.

Immediately Shino created a platform underneath Kendo and Hatsume who were acting as the legs, and lifted the team high in the sky before any other team got a chance to attack.

"We don't have to fight just yet." Shino said with a smile.

"I can see the whole arena from here!" Hatsume shouted.

"We'll be safe up here for a while." No sooner than a second after Kendo said that, a tilted pillar of ice shot in front of them as Todoroki's team consisting of Yaoyorozu, Iida, and Kaminari used said pillar to lunch themselves at Shino's team with Iida providing a speed boost.

"You just had to jinx it." Said Shino as he ordered the platform to move dodging the incoming attack.

"You're not getting away." Todoroki used his quirk to create an ice slide that changed the trajectory of his team to go after Shino.

"Kaminari attack, Yaoyorozu insulation." With the bare minimum of words, Todoroki gave his group their commands as the two students nodded and followed their leader's orders.

Kaminari started shooting electricity -making sure not overexert himself- at Shino who used whatever gold he had left to block the attack while Yaoyorozu created an insulation blanket to make sure her teammates didn't get affected.

"Sorry Kaminari, but pure gold doesn't conduct electricity." Shino said as he sped to get away.

Just as Shino thought he finally escaped Todoroki's clutches, the platform he and his group were on came to a sudden halt almost throwing all of them off it. Hatsume looked behind her and found a tape stuck to the back of the platform.

"We've been caught!" She informed her teammates.

"It's Sero." Shino saw the team that was supposed to be under Bakugo as Kirishima, Ashido, and Sero were on the other end of the tape trying to reel them in but he didn't see Bakugo anywhere.

"Where is bakugo? This is not good." Right on cue, Shino heard the explosion boy coming from above him. But that wasn't possible, the only way for that was…

"LOOK UP FUCKERS!" Bakugo had used his team both as a distraction and to hold Shino's platform in place.

"Is he crazy?!" Kendo didn't believe someone could be this reckless, clearly she wasn't acquainted with class 1-A.

"That's Bakugo for you, always unexpected." Shino created another platform to shield against the explosive assault.

"We need to move, fast. Hatsume use the teaser." Shino ordered quickly.

"Roger that!" Hatsume brought out what looked like staple gun and placed it where the tape connected to the platform.

"Bye bye!" She waved her hand to kirishima and the others as she pressed the trigger sending an electric shock through it that reached them zapping them and forcing them to release their hold on the tape.

At the same time, Shino pushed Bakugo away and then slammed him downwards to his team who were able to catch him in time. As the Bakugo team were regaining their balance, another team rushed besides them steeling the headband from Bakugo.

"WHO DARES?" Bakugo was furious, he was just slammed on the head and now someone had the balls to steal his headband. Whoever the person that attacked him is, Bakugo was gonna make them pay dearly.

"I dare." In front of Bakugo stood another blonde, Neito Monoma, with his usual smug punch-able face as he twirled the headband around his fingers.

"You of class 1-A think the world revolves around you. You got excited because of the first competition and became predictable. The fact that people think you're superior to us in class 1-B is laughable. And you Bakugo are so full of yourself like you're undefeatable but I was able to snatch your headband easily, it's pathetic really."

At this moment, everybody in the arena could feel Bakugo's anger radiating, as he seemed to glow red with murderous intent. "Kirishima, before we go for the ten million headband, we're gonna kill every one of these B-class trash."

"Well, Monoma just dug up his own grave. Tragic really, what ignorance can do to you." Shino shook his head with a sympathetic look on his face. He and his team were still floating above the arena but were close enough to hear what was happening.

"He was kidding right? About the whole killing thing." Kendo looked at Shino worriedly.

"I'm afraid he wasn't, let's just hope he remembers that he would lose if he injured anyone. That's about the only thing that would hold him back now." Kendo gulped at how serious Shino looked as he said those words.

"You let your guard down." A voice came from behind Shino snatching his headband; it was Midoriya and his team consisting of Uraraka, Tokoyami, and Aoyama.

"How did they get this high?!" Kendo was taken by surprise, as they didn't hear anyone coming close to them.

"They must have used dark shadow to lunch themselves in the air while Uraraka made them weightless." Shino extended a pole trying to snatch the headband again but a blast from Aoyama's navel laser propelled Midoriya and his team away while destroying the pole.

"I told you I'm here to win too." Midoriya had a triumphant smirk on his face as his group descended. However, that smirk was soon wiped from his face when he found himself face-to-face with Todoroki's team determined to get the headband he just snatched.

The audience was both surprised and excited by Midoriya managing to steel the headband from Shino and the prospect of his team fighting Todoroki's team for said headband.

Seeing this Shino smirked and began to descend to the ground, "Stage one complete. We fooled them."

"I hope we don't regret this." Kendo sighed; she still wasn't completely convinced with Shino's plan.

**FLASHBACK:**

"You want us to lose the headband!" Kendo shouted in shock at the crazy idea.

"Why don't raise your voice more, I think some of the audience didn't hear you yet." Shino said in a sarcastic tone, as he quickly made sure no one overheard. Thankfully, no one did.

"I joined this team because you have the fist-place headband and would be a good chance to showcase my babies and now you're telling me you want to lose it? I'm out." Hatsume turned around ready to leave when Shino grabbed her by the arm.

"Just hear me to the end you two."

The two girls looked to each other for a moment then to Shino prompting him to continue his plan.

"The first-place headband is gonna cause almost all the teams to come after us, sooner or later we'll lose it somehow." Both Kendo and Hatsume could help but agree, the other teams were strong and with the assault focused on them it would be very hard to keep it for the whole competition.

"The point of the first two competitions is to simmer the number of competitors for the final competition which is always a one-on-one fight, we just need to be in the top four teams to qualify, no need to aim for first place just yet."

Kendo raised an eyebrow, "Says the guy who got first place in the first competition."

"Hey! I'll admit, I was caught in the excitement of the whole festival thing and just went all out. But now we have to play it smart."

"What about my Babies?!" Hatsume questioned Shino.

"Your babies are the key to this plan, I am limited by the amount of gold I have now since I can't touch the ground and there are no items around. Kendo will be our defense against physical attacks. We'll need your babies to get the versatility we need to collect headbands."

Hatsume's eyes had stars in them at the praise her babies were getting.

"The audience will still have their eyes on us after we lose the headband to see if the former first-place will be able to return and when they see us collecting headbands thanks to your babies, they will defiantly be interested."

"Creating suspension, I like it! Count me in."

Both Shino and Hatsume then looked at Kendo for approval like a couple of kids begging their mom for candy, complete with puppy-eyes and all.

Kendo sighed and put her hand on her face, "Fine, but we better not lose because of this. I will pound both of you to the ground if that happens." Kendo rolled her hands into fists in a threatening way to make sure both of them understood.

"Don't worry, everything is gonna be fine. But we have to offer some resistance so no one would suspect us."

**FLASHBACK END**

Shino's team reached the ground and immediately started their hunt for headbands. The first one they got was from one of class 1-B's teams that consisted of four girls led by Tokage, Shino used his hovering board in conjunction with a jetpack of Hatsume's design to boost past the girls snatching their headband and getting away before they knew what hit them.

Next team on Shino's radar was Shoji's team as they were distracted attacking Midoriya alongside Todoroki's team, he identified Tsu and Mineta hiding between Shoji's arms but couldn't tell which one had the headband or if there was a fourth member in there with them. Luckily, Hatsume had a solution, an x-ray vision scouter that could help him see past the arms, with that he confirmed that Mineta had the headband and there was no fourth member. Shino then molded some of his gold into tiny hands that could get between the arms and steel the headband without the group noticing.

"Your babies are amazing Hatsume!" Shino couldn't help but praise the technical genius.

"I know right!" The pink-haired girl joyfully replayed.

"Heads up! We have another target." Kendo brought their attention to the team approaching them.

The team was led by a boy with his entire body made of iron that Kendo identified as Tetsutesu Tetsutesu from class 1-B, Shino couldn't hold his laughter at the name as Hatsume joined him and even Kendo couldn't help but chuckled a bit before she caught herself as to not disrespect her classmate.

"I'll be taking your headbands now!" Tetsutetsu exclaimed as he tried to punch Shino with his iron fist.

"Sorry but I'm kinda attached to them, they look better on me anyway." Shino jumped in the air allowing Kendo to intercept the attack as Hatsume came from behind her ready with the teaser and as soon as Kendo lost contact with the iron boy, she shot it stunning him and his team, which gave Shino the chance to snatch his headband and return to his team.

After steeling three headbands, Shino glanced at the big screen that displayed the points each team had and their rankings. To his team's relief, they were now placed fourth behind Todoroki who managed to get hold of the ten million points, Midoriya who still had his original second-place headband and other headbands black shadow probably stole and was now the one chasing Todoroki, and Monoma who had stolen Bakugo's headband and a couple of other headband that belonged to 1-A teams.

"This going better than I thought!" Kendo was surprised they were able to reach fourth place this quickly, there was still three minute left until the end of the competition.

"All thanks to my babies!" Hatsume exclaimed.

"Keep your guard up you two, we're still in danger. If any of the other teams surpass us by even a point, we'll be out. We need to raise our points a little more just to be safe."

"Right!" the two girls answered.

"I suggest we go after some of the low points as to not arouse suspicion." Kendo scanned around to see if there were any teams they could go after.

"Good idea Kendo."

Unknown to them, there was a team that had them in their sights. The Shoji team, after realizing Shino took their headband, staked his team waiting for the right moment to strike and get their headband back along with any other headbands he might have collected by that time.

Just as Shino's team stole another headband from another team putting them in third place, Shoji's team moved to strike, their plan was simple, Mineta would throw his balls at the legs to immobilize them while Tsu would use the momentary confusion and with her long tongue would grab as much of the headband as she could. Unfortunately, when the time came to attack Mineta got a little bit too excited and yelled "Time for revenge!" which alerted Shino to their presence and caused him to flee immediately ruining his team's plan.

"Why did you do that?" Shoji questioned Mienta half-angry and half-in disbelief.

"Well the plan is ruined now, we can't let them escape, there isn't much time lift, kero." Tsu pointed out in a calm tone hiding her own nervousness.

"We don't have a choice. We'll go after them anyway and this time don't ruin it Mineta, kero."

"Okay then." Shoji ran faster to catch up with the other team.

Hatsume was the first to notice the six-armed boy approaching them, "They're on our track!"

"Watch out for Mineta's purple balls and Tsu's tongue, if we get caught by one of them it's all over." Shino warned his teammates.

As warned, the team kept avoiding the many sticky balls thrown their way and the occasional tongue attack aimed at the headband.

"What are supposed to do now? Time is about to run out, if they catch us we won't be able to recover." Kendo and Hatsume were fast but Shoji was faster.

"Can't we use the hovering board and my jetpack to speed out of their range?" Hatsume asked.

"We can't maneuver when we're moving that fast and we don't wanna in end up at the hands of another team. One slip up and we might lose everything."

Shino kept thinking of a way to make sure Shoji can't follow them until he noticed that Tsu would time her attacks when Mineta wasn't throwing balls. "I have an idea!" he exclaimed.

"When the tongue comes again I'll jump and you catch it Kendo, then use it to block one of the balls, that's gonna stop them in their tracks." Kendo nodded in understanding.

As planed when Tsu lunched her tongue, Shino jumped allowing Kendo to catch it, Tsu tried to pull her in put she was no match for Kendo's physical strength, Mineta tried throwing his balls at Shino but they were intercepted by Tsu's tongue thrown by Kendo. The Shoji team was now immobilized by their own attack and couldn't pursue any further. And with that the siren rang again signaling the end of the second competition of the sports festival.

All the teams' members now stood in groups no longer having to carry each other. Everyone, audience and competitors alike, looked at the board to find out who won.

"**Now let's see who our top four teams are. In first place, team Todoroki who were able to keep the ten million headband.**" The audience's cheer grew louder. "**In second place, team Midoriya who despite constant tries couldn't take the ten million headband form Todoroki but kept their original headband and managed to steal others. In third place, the original first place team Shino who after losing the ten million headband were able to come back to the top four.**" Shino's sweat dropped '_She's just rubbing salt in the wound but it was the plan after all so I can't complain._' "**And last but not least, in fourth place, team Bakugo who was struggling throughout the competition but finally was able to land in the top four.**" Shouting could be heard and Shino recognized the voice to be Bakugo's.

"So he managed to defeat Monoma, and since he wasn't disqualified it means he didn't kill him. That's a relief; we don't need any more bad blood with class 1-B."

"What's important now is that we made it to the final competition, that means we're back to being enemies right?" Kendo asked Shino.

"Not enemies, rivals. I don't want to be enemies with anyone."

"Guess I see you in the finals huh?" Kendo gave Shino a competitive look.

"I'll be waiting for you." They pumped fists as Hatsume looked at them with a huge grin on her face.

"Well then love birds; it's been nice working with you." Hatsume then ran off to god knows where. "It's not like that!" Kendo yelled at the pink-haired girl and her face turned red at the comment while Shino only smiled wider, '_I like the sound of that._' He thought.

"A-Anyway, see you later Shino." Kendo waved and walked away hastily her face still red and her mind full questions like '_It's not like that, right?' 'I can't deny I care for him a lot but not like that, right? Moreover, even if I do, what tells me he feels the same way? It might be just how he treats people and I'm no special case.'_ Kendo's heart sank to her feet at the thought of Shino not liking her and that confirmed her own feelings which made her face an even darker shade of red as she reached where the girls of class 1-B stood who were quick to point it out but only one of them had a knowing grin on her face.

"**The competitors of the top four teams please step forward so we can see you.**" The students in question lined up in front of the stage where Midnight stood.

"**It seems we have a small problem, the number of competitors is thirteen and so we'll need an extra student. Let's see the fifth-place team.**" Everybody looked at the board to see who is the lucky team that will get one of their members chosen and to their surprise, it was team Shinso that consisted of himself and three other general studies students. Nobody thought that a team of general studies students would rank this high surpassing many hero course teams.

"**Team Shinso, please choose one of you to become the fourteenth competitor.**"

The team in question didn't move, they looked as confused and surprised as everyone else by their ranking. Their expressions changed however when the leader of the team stepped forward. It looked like they figured out what was happening and didn't look too happy about it.

Shinso looked back at his team then forward, "I'll be the one to advance from my team." The other general studies students started mumbling as the purple haired-boy join the other thirteen students.

"**Well then folks here are your fourteen competitors that will fight in the third competition, a one-on-one fighting tournament. But before that, let's give them a fifteen minutes break to rejuvenate themselves and get ready, after that the match ups will be announced.**"

With that the students scattered, Shino went looking for his friend and found Iida and Uraraka looking worried and Midoriya not with them.

"What's up Uraraka, Iida? Congratulations on advancing. Where is Midoriya?" the two teen perked up at hearing Shino voice.

"Hey Shino, congratulations to you too. As for Midoriya, Todoroki wanted to talk to him alone so they went somewhere else." The class president answered.

"Why? Did something happen?" Shino was curious.

It was Uraraka's turn to answer, "Well when we were fighting Todoroki's team for the ten million headband I guess we pushed too hard and Todoroki accidentally used his fire side to repel us."

"Nobody got hurt did they?" Shino was now worried.

"No, we manage to back off in time and didn't get hurt," Shino was relieved, "But Todoroki seemed really upset by that." This surprised Shino; Todoroki wasn't one for showing his anger or any emotion for that matter, for him to openly be upset about this meant it was big deal to him.

"Don't worry, unlike Bakugo Todoroki is rational and won't do anything reckless." Shino gave them a reassuring smile.

"I'm sure Midoriya will be back any time now." Right on cue Midoriya came for a corner in the entrance.

"See, what did I tell you." The three went up to their green-haired friend who greeted them with a smile, but Shino could tell there was something weighing heavily on his mind and the smile he gave was weak.

"Are you okay Midoriya?" they asked.

"Yeah I'm fine don't worry." Midoriya answered.

"What did Todoroki want talk to you about?" Midoriya looked worried by the question.

"N-Nothing, he apologized and said the same thing as in the waiting room." While Iida and Uraraka were convinced, Shino could feel there was more to this but didn't want to bother the shorter boy.

At that moment, Todoroki came out of the corner and glanced at Midoriya's direction catching Shino's eyes on him before walking away.

"Come on guys, we need to rest before the final competition so we can be in top form."

"Yeah let's go." Midoriya said.

There was more tension between the students now that the teams have disbanded and everybody returned to working for themselves. Now the real competition will start.

**Thank you for reading.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 9**

The fifteen minute given to the competitors to relax went by in flash and they were soon called to the stadium once more to announce the match ups for the final competition. After they all stood before the stage once more, Midnight signaled for the electric board to reveal the match ups.

"**Ladies and gentlemen! Here are the match ups for the first round of the final competition of the sports festival. Matches will be ten minutes long, the fighters have to either knock the opponent out or knock them off the arena to win. And for safety measure we have the hero Cementoss to make sure no one goes overboard and to repair the arena.**" The audience cheered loudly, this was the most important competition of the sports festival and the one where students truly shine. Many people were intently watching, either in the stadium, in their homes, or in the streets. Individuals and organizations alike, the whole world had their eyes on the future heroes of U.A. to see who would shine the brightest.

"**And our first match is Midoriya vs Aoyama!**" Midnight announced and all eyes were now fixed on the two classmates and former teammates. Midoriya didn't like the attention too much but there seemed to be something else that worried him more.

"Let's go out there and shine brightly like the stars." Aoyama brought Midoriya out of his thoughts and Midoriya looked like he didn't notice the boy standing next to him.

"Yeah sure let's go." Midoriya gave a weak response but Aoyama didn't notice and went on ahead to his waiting room.

Before Midoriya went, Shino grabbed his shoulder stopping him, "Midoriya are you ok?" Shino had a worried expression on his face.

"Yeah I'm fine, don't worry." Midoriya gave a small smile to reassure Shino but it only made him worry even more.

"You've been absent minded since Todoroki talked to you. Did he say something to bother you that much?" Midoriya's Shoulder stiffened which confirmed Shino's suspicion, "N-No it's nothing like that! I'm just nervous to fight in front of all those people." He franticly shook his head while raising his hands in defensive manner.

Shino sighed; there was nothing he could do to help his friend if he didn't tell him what was wrong. "Fine just focus on the fight in front of you and leave whatever problems you have in the back of your mind right now, you don't want to lose this early because your head was in the skies." Shino said as he walked away to the seats designated for the 1-A students that didn't qualify and the one that didn't have matches at the moment.

"You're right." Midoriya lightly slapped his cheeks and his thoughtful expression changed to one of determination.

When he arrived, he found a seat reserved for him next to Iida and Uraraka.

"What were you talking to Midoriya about Shino?" Iida asked after Shino had settled down in his seat.

"Just motivational talk, you know how nervous Midoriya can be." Shino didn't see a reason to worry Uraraka and Iida when he himself didn't know the answer.

"Don't worry, Deku is gonna do fine. There is no way he would lose and I can bet on it." Uraraka said with a smile while shaking her hands in excitement.

"Yeah I know. You should get ready too, Uraraka. Your match is next."

"I know; I will be fighting Mina so I should prepare a strategy, but I just want to see Deku's match. Besides they give us a few minutes between matches."

"Suit yourself."

Their attention changed to the arena when Midoriya and Aoyama walked out to the arena while Present Mic was giving each of them a lengthy introduction. After both students reached their place in the arena, Midnight reminded them of the rules.

"**Ready…Begin!**"

The second Midnight gave the signal, Aoyama started shooting his naval laser trying to knock Midoriya as fast as possible but Midoriya read the attacks and was able to dodge accordingly, although he was almost hit a couple of times.

While Midoriya dodged, he waited for the drawbacks of Aoyama's quirk to catch up with him and sure enough Aoyama's stomach began to ache and he was unable to shoot another laser or dodge the punch Midoriya delivered to said aching stomach which was enough to knock the blond boy out earning Midoriya his first win.

"See! I told you Deku would be fine!" Uraraka exclaimed while pointing at the arena.

"I never said he would lose. Don't you have a match to catch up to? Ashido already left." Shino smirked when he saw Uraraka's face go blank remembering her own match.

"You're right! I have to go! Wish me luck guys, and tell Deku I said congrats!" Uraraka hurried to the waiting room.

"Good luck." Both Iida and Shino said at the same time.

Midoriya finally joined the two boys at the stands along with a conscious Aoyama, "Hey guys."

"Welcome Midoriya, congratulations on your win. Uraraka asked us to tell you as well." Iida replied.

"Yeah Midoriya you knocked Aoyama cold with one hit, way to go." The blond boy in question didn't appreciate the reminder.

"Thanks." Midoriya said as he sat down and brought out his notebook. In all the action of the festival, Midoriya saw many quirks and this was his first chance to finally record them in his notebook.

"Uraraka's match is gonna start any second now." Shino turned Midoriya's attention to the arena as they saw the two girls walk up to the arena with Midnight standing in the middle.

"She well do great, I know it." Midoriya smiled with a small blush on his cheeks.

"Funny, she said the same thing about you." Shino informed him.

"She did?!" Midoriya's blush darkened.

"Indeed Midoriya, while I didn't doubt your abilities, Uraraka was ready to fight anyone who dared to think you'd lose." Iida stated, unaware of the implications of his statement.

Thick Steam started coming of Midoriya's head and his blush spread throughout his entire face creating the most accurate tomato disguise ever causing Shino to burst in laughter. However, before he could comment on it the match started.

The first to strike was Ashido throwing her acid at Uraraka while sliding around to keep her distance as to not fall to her quirk.

Uraraka on the other hand kept dodging the acid while looking for an opening to strike back. However, that was easier said than done as Ashido had higher mobility and attacked from a range. Uraraka could only get close to her was to either by predicting her movement or forcing her to go in a specific direction. Fortunately, she had just the idea to do that.

Uraraka started coordinating her movements and her dodging as she advanced towards Mina who now focused completely on repelling the gravity girl that she didn't realize she was being pressed to the corner of the arena with nowhere left to dodge. By then, all Uraraka had to do was dodge the final attack and touch her once and the pink girl lost all control over her movement and floated helplessly.

Ashido looked at her friend pleading her to have mercy but all she got was an innocent smile as Uraraka gently pushed her out of the arena then deactivated her quirk dropping the acid girl on the ground and taking the win.

As the two girls returned to the stands, one of them was pouting while the other had a huge grin on her face.

"Good job Uraraka! I knew you could do it!" Midoriya was the first to congratulate her on the win.

"Thanks Deku you were awesome too!" The two teens had a small blush on their faces but before either of them said anything, Iida started talking.

"Indeed you have done well Uraraka." Iida said while cutting the air with his robotic hand movements.

"QUITE DOWN 1-A, JUST BECAUSE YOU QUALIFIED FOR THE FINAL COMPETITION DOSEN'T MEAN YOU CAN DISTUBE THE REST OF US." The loud and annoying voice of Monoma brought down the group's mood as he screamed from the class 1-B seats that were right next to class 1-A's.

"Dude why are you screaming? We're not disturbing anybody, unlike you." Shino got out of his chair and stood to Monoma's face.

Before Monoma could argue even more, Kendo came from behind him and knocked him with strike to the back of the neck. "Sorry about that Shino, he's being a nuisance again." Kendo said as she picked the unconscious blond up. "No problem Kendo, I didn't know your seats were this close." Shino's mood was lifted again. "Yeah since we're both hero course classes they designated this entire area for us, cool huh." Kendo had enough time to somewhat sort her feelings out deciding to push them to the back of her mind for now and deal with them after the festival, it's not like they're going anywhere. "Well hopefully we'll talk more soon but for now I think you should return Monoma to his seat." Kendo nodded and they both walked away. That's when Shino noticed Uraraka and Midoriya were still standing watching the exchange happen.

"Take a seat Uraraka, Midoriya, the next match between Todoroki and Sero is about to begin. They both already left to the waiting room." Shino pointed to the two seats next to him.

"You and the president of class 1-B seem to be on good terms considering their entire class hates us." Iida questioned Shino.

"Yeah we're friends." To Shino she was more than that but that was his own perspective that he won't bring to the light unless questioned, "And her class don't hate us, it's just Monoma planting ideas in their heads. Let's not talk about that now and focus on the fight that's about to start." Shino changed the subject fast.

"Who do you think will win?" Uraraka wondered as she and Midoriya sat next to Shino.

"You've gotta be kidding me? I don't wanna sound mean or anything, but there is no way Sero could win this match. If you ask me he drew the short straw to fight Todoroki on his first match." Shino almost felt bad for Sero but he knew life could be cruel like that sometimes.

As predicted, the match ended fast when Todoroki created a huge ice wave that froze Sero, half of Midnight, and a part of the stadium almost hitting the audience.

"See, what did I tell you? Although you have to give credit where credit is due, Sero was quick on the attack and against any other combatant he might have won, but not against Todoroki."

"But don't you think he went overboard a little. Seems like something is bothering him." Uraraka said while pointing at the huge pillar of ice.

"Yeah you're right, maybe he wanted to send a message to the other students or something." Shino replied.

'_Whatever he said to Midoriya must be a really big deal for it to affect both of them like that._' Shino glanced at Midoriya to see his reaction and noticed he was lost in thought but looked sad.

The two students later returned to their seats after Sero was thawed by Todoroki as Kirishima and Mina consoled their friend.

The fourth match of the first round was one many people were anticipating since it featured the boy who took everyone by surprise, Shinso, and his opponent was Kaminari. Everyone was waiting to see what kind of fight Shinso would show.

The two boys climbed the arena and were waiting for Midnight to signal the start of their fight.

"**Ready…start!**"

Kaminari didn't waste any time going straight on the attack while Shinso didn't move, instead he talked.

"You're from 1-A right?" Shinso asked Kaminari who was confused as to where the sudden curiosity came from.

"Yeah I-" Kaminari didn't get to finish talking before he stopped moving and his expression became blank and the electricity twirling around his body dissipated.

"Good boy." Shinso smirked.

"What is Kaminari doing?" Kirishima asked

"Yeah why did he stop attacking and what's with the blank expression?" Mina added more questions to the pile. Unfortunately, nobody had an answer to any of them.

Their attention shifted to Shinso when he spoke again. "Now get out of the arena." Everybody watched as Kaminari turned around and started walking towards the edge of the arena.

"What are you doing Kaminari?! Snap out of it!" His classmates shouted for him to stop but to no avail. Kaminari reached the edge and fell to the ground hitting his head and losing the fight. Kaminari finally regained control as he looked confused wondering what he was doing outside the arena when the last thing he remembered was being inside.

Nobody knew what to make of this; even the audience didn't know whether to cheer or to boo.

"It must be Shinso's quirk." Everybody turned to Midoriya who had a thoughtful expression as he pinched his chin.

"Kaminari started acting weird after answering Shinso's question; he might have some kind of brainwashing quirk that works when people answer him." Midoriya continued his analysis.

"That's ridiculous! Can a quirk this overpowered really exist?!" Sero couldn't even fathom such a quirk.

"The world is big; there is pound to be some crazy quirks out there. It would certainly explain why Kaminari seemed to act weirdly and his blank expression. It was as if his mind shut off and not by the effects of his own quirk." Yaoyorozu supported Midoriya's theory.

"If that's true then there must be a way to break the brainwashing. I think being hit or injured could do the trick." Shino pointed out Kaminari finally standing up and seeing on the board that he lost, "Kaminari seemed to regain his consciousness after hitting the ground. Then again it could be Shinso simply turning his quirk off but it is our best bet from what we saw."

"A quirk that brainwashes people when they answer the user's questions and can only be broken when the subject receives damage." Midoriya retold the final theory they came up with to his class.

"I don't envy anyone that fights him next." Mineta said almost relieved he didn't qualify.

"How come someone with such a powerful quirk isn't in the hero course?" Mina asked.

"He said it himself, he wanted to enter the hero course but because the practical exam favored combat-oriented quirks he was unable to. This festival is his chance to enter." Shino's words frightened the students of class 1-A and 1-B who were overhearing the discussion, especially the ones that didn't do good in the competitions since they were the prime candidates to lose their seats in the hero course.

"Looks like we underestimated the competition, Kero" Tsuyu was a little disheartened.

"Or we overestimated ourselves." Ojiro said remembering how he did nothing noteworthy in the festival.

"Guys you did your best so don't feel so bad. I actually looked into this whole taking seats thing and it is not necessary that he would take one of our seats, he most likely will just be added to one of the two classes." Shino tried to cheer his friends up.

"Then why did he tell us he'll take them?!" Hagakure questioned.

"He probably just wanted to scare us and show how serious he is about this." Midoriya answered.

"Even so, we should learn from this to never let our guard down or underestimate the enemy no matter how strong we think we are." The class-president tried to draw a lesson from all this.

"You're right Iida! We shouldn't despair and learn from our mistakes." Uraraka supported Iida.

Soon the rest of class had determined faces instead of sad ones as each of them silently decided to make the most of this experience to become better heroes.

Kaminari finally returned to the class 1-A seats where the others explained to him what happened and how he lost. Needless to say, he wasn't happy losing without even attacking once.

"I can't believe I lost like that!" Kaminari slumped into his seat feeling discouraged

"Cheer up man, there was nothing you could do." Kirishima consoled his friend.

"Yeah it's not like you knew simply answering a question would activate his quirk." Sero added.

"Thanks guys, still sucks though." Kaminari was thankful to his friends' attempts at cheering him up but it didn't help his feeling of powerlessness.

The fifth match was between Bakugo and Kirishima, another due of teammates turned opponents. The two boys took their place in the arena, both with grins on their faces and confidence in their abilities.

The match started with Bakugo immediately going with the strategy 'fly like a butterfly, explode like a grenade' as he swirled around his opponent hitting him explosions then retreating a safe distance then repeating the process. Kirishima on the other hand opted for a more defensive style taking advantage of his hardening quirk to tank the explosions and look for a chance to strike.

"Is that all, Bakugo? I can barely feel it." Kirishima taunted Bakugo, confident in his quirk.

"Keep talking shitty hair; it will make it all the sweeter when I beat you." Bakugo wasn't stupid, he knew Kirishima was trying to make him slip up so he can get a chance to attack but Bakugo wouldn't give him that chance. He also knew that although Kirishima's quirk was impressive, like all quirks including his own, it had it's limits and he will eventually tire out.

Unfortunately for Kirishima, his plans didn't come through and the fight devolved to a battle of endurance to see whose quirk would give out first, will it be the attacker Bakugo or the defender Kirishima. Over time, the hardening on parts of Kirishima's body began to falter. This didn't go unnoticed by Bakugo as he focused on these parts and slowly started to do some damage. Kirishima had no choice but swinging his fists hoping he would get lucky and hit Bakugo, but luck was not on his side today.

In the end, Kirishima couldn't hold on anymore and lost after an explosion knocked him out.

Everybody in the audience and in the class 1-A seats guessed something like that would happen but they couldn't help but feel bad for Kirishima, he did his best but his best simply wasn't good enough.

"Man I lost, but you were so manly out there Bakugo! Your quirk so powerful!" Kirishima exclaimed as he and Bakugo returned to their seats.

"Of course it is Shitty hair! I'm the one that's gonna be the number one hero!" Bakugo yelled but didn't seem too bothered by Kirishima, "Your were okay I guess." Bakugo said so fast Kirishima almost didn't hear it, but he did.

"Thanks man." Kirishima was sad that he lost but since it was against someone he recognized as strong, he accepted it, but that wouldn't stop him from trying to surpass Bakugo one day.

Shino then noticed something that somewhat scared him; Kirishima's shirt was almost gone, burned by the explosive attacks. He had thought that these shirts were more durable than this and so didn't give it much thought only warring a normal shirt under them, but now he knew that if he was to fight Bakugo the same would probably happen to him. Whether he won or lost wouldn't matter since his body, and the scars littering it would be exposed to the world. The mere thought of that happening sent his heart down to his feet as he silently wished that he won't have to face Bakugo. Unfortunately, he wouldn't get his wish.

Shino's mind was taken away from the subject when the next match began. It was a match he himself was waiting for, Kendo's match against Yaoyorozu.

The two girls went at each other determined to win the match, Yaoyorozu created a shield and a staff to defend against Kendo's giant fists, which seemed to work in the beginning. Kendo's strategy was to get behind Yaoyorozu and strike her neck to knock her out quickly but every time she tried, Yaoyorozu would defend using the shield and then retaliate with her staff. Kendo needed a change in plans or she would end up losing. Thankfully, her martial arts training wasn't just about hitting hard, it was also about how to outsmart your opponent to gain the advantage. So she baited the raven-haired girl with an upper chop of her left hand. When Yaoyorozu raised her shield to block, she was taken off guard by Kendo's right hand capturing her in a tight grip. After securing her opponent, Kendo raised her off the ground and started walking towards the edge of the arena.

Yaoyorozu tried to escape Kendo's grip but with no room to create anything big enough and no way to match Kendo's physical strength, she was eventually thrown out of the arena and lost the fight.

Watching the match, Shino was more than happy for Kendo. '_This is the first time I've seen her in a fight but damn is she good. She was quick to come up with a new strategy and her martial arts skills are no joke either._', although he felt a little bad for Yaoyorozu, she fought well and deserved praise for her efforts. As Kendo was walking off the arena, she glanced at Shino who gave her a thumbs up which she returned. This went unnoticed by their classmates.

Yaoyorozu returned to her seat looking depressed, it must have felt bad to lose just after getting the resolve to become better. Her state was noticed by her friends as they kept telling her to cheer up and that she did the best she could but while it somewhat cheered her up, Shino could tell it wasn't enough.

The next match was between Iida and Hatsume, and Shino had an idea of how it will turn out. The pink-haired inventor had no interest in winning, just showing off he 'babies' to the investors that must be in the crowd and Iida would be her model.

After the two students entered the arena and before the match started, Hatsume approached Iida.

"Hey! I've seen you in the cavalry battle, you seem to have a problem with sharp turns, how about you try one of my babies?!" Hatsume offered.

Both Iida and Midnight were confused by the girl's offer, "Why would give your opponent items that would give them an advantage?" Iida had a bad feeling about this.

"I'm an inventor and my mission is making support items for heroes such as yourself! Consider it the beginning of an investment." Hatsume said with a grin.

Iida -against his better judgment- agreed, "Well if your intentions are to help heroes and if the judge agrees, then I would be honored to have your items."

They turned to Midnight who saw no harm since both parties were okay with and gave the green sign.

At this Hatsume exploded with euphoria and brought out all the support items she planned to use on Iida as well as some for herself. After that, they both returned to their place in the arena. The spectators were confused as to why Iida was wearing support item now but didn't dwell on it for long.

'_You've fallen for her trap Iida, this should be interesting._' Shino's sweat dropped knowing the nature of his former teammate.

The support items Iida wore were leg parts that made it easier to accelerate and made easier to move and what look like a pair of wings with three thrusters on each wing.

Hatsume on the other hand, had a new pair of boots different from the ones she had in the other two competitions and mechanical belt around her waist in addition to her signature googles.

At the signal, Iida sprinted towards Hatsume taking advantage the items she herself gave him but in the last second before he attacked, an attachment came out her belt hitting the ground propelling her out of Iida's way while tripping him at the same time. Because of the added speed, Iida couldn't regain control in time and was going to head straight out of the arena when the thrusters on his back changed direction and thrusted readjusting Iida's body and preventing him from falling. All while this was happening, Hatsume was explaining the function of each item with starry eyes making sure the investors among the audience were listening.

This game of cat and mouse continued throughout the match with Iida trying hopelessly to catch Hatsume. And her evading every attempt while displaying some of her other inventions like a gun that shoots a net to capture villains and boots that make you jump higher similar to how Uraraka uses her quirk -god knows when did she make all of these- on Iida who was losing his patience.

Just before the time-out, Hatsume simply walked out of the arena with a satisfied smile on her face despite losing the match, leaving behind a very angry and ashamed Iida as he fumed over being used in such a way by the girl. This continued until he returned to his seat next to Uraraka and Midoriya but Shino was gone by that point, it was his match at last against Tokoyami.

Shino entered the arena with a confident smile on his face and a plan in his mind. In front of him was his bird-headed classmate ready for a fight. Unfortunately for Tokoyami, by the time their match started it was the middle of the day with the sun at it's hottest and directly above the arena and Shino was gonna take full advantage of that.

With a signal from Midnight, the fight began and Tokoyami brought out dark shadow who attacked Shino. Immediately Shino kneeled down touching the ground and turning part of the arena to gold reflecting the sun's light at dark shadow, both blinding it and weakening it enough for Shino to dodge it's attack and head straight for Tokoyami with golden tendrils following him.

Tokoyami wasn't gonna lose that easily though, as he called back dark shadow immediately and summoned it to counter Shino's assault. However, this also was a part of Shino's plan. Dark shadow could only defend in one direction and so Shino had some tendrils travel with him under the arena and positioned it behind Tokoyami waiting for the right moment to strike.

As dark shadow was busy defending against the gold tendrils from the front, new tendrils emerged from the ground behind Tokoyami, too fast for dark shadow to counter them, capturing him and wrapping him in a golden cocoon. Only his bird head wasn't covered.

Shino then moved him to the golden side, which insured a weakened dark shadow that couldn't return Tokoyami to hide from the sun. Shino then threw the golden cocoon and the student in it outside the arena, winning his first round.

With Shino's fight over, the first round of the final competition was done and as Cementoss was reforming the arena, making sure it was gold-free, Midnight spoke.

"**With that the first round is done, Midoriya, Uraraka, Todoroki, Shinso, Bakugo, Kendo, Iida, and Shino. These fearsome fighters have advanced and will meet again in the arena for the second round after 5 minutes where the match ups will once again be announced.**"

The crowd cheered for the students as their pictures were shown on the big screen and the students themselves couldn't help but feel proud of themselves with the exception of Iida who was still sore about the way he won.

The students took those precious five minutes to think about who their next opponent might be and a way to defeat them. Everybody was sure that the next rounds would be much harder but that's what they signed for when they decided to aim for the top.

**Thanks for reading.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 10**

"**Our gracious audience! It is time for the second round of the final competition of the sports festival. The students that have advanced will once again fight to prove their strength and aim for the first place. Unlike the first round however, the matches will be announced one at a time meaning that the fighters won't know who their opponent is until few minutes before the fight.**" Midnight brought everybody's attention from their conversations about the first round as they waited to see what fight they're gonna see next.

'_Makes sense, they want to make the rounds more difficult since we all saw what the other students could do._' Shino analyzed the decision.

"**And now the first match is…**" Two dials appeared on the screen and started spinning until each of them stopped showing the pictures of the two fighters.

"**MIdoriya vs Shinso! May the two students go to the waiting room; you have three minutes to ready yourself and will be called upon when it's time. This will be the case for all matches of course. Nobody is allowed inside the waiting room except the competitors.**" The two boys in question got out of their seats and headed to their designated waiting rooms.

Midoriya was more than nervous as he sat in his waiting room alone trying to think of a way to defeat Shinso's quirk. He and his friends had created a general idea of how the quirk worked but it was all just theories and hypotheses with no real evidence to back most of it. But unfortunately, it was all he had to work with.

After thinking, he had made a simple plan to counter Shinso, simply do not talk and without using his quirk he would knock his opponent out. Since Shinso was a general studies student, he couldn't have gotten much in terms of physical and fighting training. He also seemed to rely on his quirk too much, which meant that if you don't fall for it, the threat level of Shinso drops significantly.

The speaker in his room announced that his three minute were up and he was required to head for the arena. This broke him out of his mumbling habit that he didn't even know he went into since there was no one around to point it out or stop him. He franticly got up almost tripping on of the chair's legs and ran to the arena.

When Midoriya arrived, the audience locked their eyes on him as he moved to take his place in the arena. To the crowds that gathered to watch the festival or the people watching around the country, Midoriya was as much of an enigma as Shinso was. Despite doing great for himself so far in the festival, coming in second place in the previous competitions and winning his first match in the final competition, he did it all without using his quirk even once. This made some people think he somehow cheated or it was all just dump luck that got him this far. Midoriya could hear some of these whispers and it wasn't doing good to his already weak self-confidence.

'_I don't like the looks everybody is giving me. Hopefully I can do this, not speaking should be easy right?_' Midoriya was and still is a shy person that didn't like being in the spotlight very often and despite it being the last competition, he didn't get any better at handling it and right now the voices of doubt were filling his mind. Luckily, his friends and classmates were there to cheer him on.

"You can do it Deku!" Uraraka shouted encouragement to her friend trying to raise his morals and getting shouts of approval and support from the rest of their classmates with the exception of Bakugo who only starred at the back of the boy with a scowl and if looks could kill, Midoriya would be dead ten times over by now.

"If anyone can do it, it would be you!" Shino was sure there were others too but right now, he was cheering Midoriya.

A big smile found it's way to Midoriya's face as the cheers and support rejuvenated his drive like fuel to an engine and their voices kicked any and all doubts he had and filled his head instead as he stood in front of his opponent.

"Nice friends you have there. Must be nice." Shinso tried to start a conversation but Midoriya stayed silent.

'_Is he trying to use his quirk on me before the match even began or is he genuinely trying to talk to me? Either way I mustn't drop my guard, one wrong move or slip up and I'm finished._'

"Come on don't be like that, it pretty rude to ignore someone talking to you." Shinso's smirk dropped and his eyes narrowed.

"**Let the fight begin!**" Midnight announced the start of the match. Immediately, Midoriya rushed at Shinso with his fist reeling back ready for a punch.

"What? Do you think you're too good to respond?" Shinso needed to make Midoriya respond and fast as he knew he would stand a chance against a hero course student in physical fight.

"The great class 1-A think they're better than the rest of us. Are you so full of yourself that you won't even use your quirk to fight me?!" Shinso's words caused murmuring among the crowd to start.

'_Of course not! I know he's trying to force me to talk._' Midoriya could feel the stares and the looks of disapproval but he couldn't defend himself at the moment so he focused on defeating Shinso and continued charging.

"You must think you're so lucky, being porn with the perfect quirk to achieve your dreams. Being given everything on a silver plate without working for it!" Shinso yelled as he spread his arms.

This seemed to hit a nerve for Midoriya and he couldn't hold it anymore.

"That's no-" Midoriya stopped moving and stared with a blank expression exactly like what happened to Kaminari.

"Finally, you almost got me there you know." Shinso rubbed the back of his neck as he released a breath he didn't know he held.

"Now turn around and walk outside the arena like your friend before you." Much like Kaminari, Midoriya turned around and started walking towards the edge of the arena wearing the same blank expression.

"Not again! Come on Deku, you have to pull yourself out of this! You can't lose like this!" Uraraka shouted trying to snap Midoriya from the state he was in and was joined by some of the other students like Kirishima and Ashido.

"Don't lose now Midoriya! Didn't you say you were here to become number one?!" Shino and Iida also joined the cheering.

"He can't hear you anymore guys." Kaminari's words silenced his classmates as they stared at him waiting for an explanation.

"When I was under Shinso's quirk it was like my body was on autopilot. While I could see, everything was hazy and felt like a dream. I couldn't hear or feel anything around me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't control my body. It was like the connection between my brain and body was severed." Kaminari described his experience as everyone listened in solemn silence. After he finished they all turned to the arena again to see Midoriya had almost reached the edge.

"There has to be a way for Midoriya to break out of this!" Uraraka looked to Shino and Iida in desperation but neither of them had an answer.

Inside Midoriya's mind, he was struggling to regain control of his body with no success.

'_Come on, move in the other way. I have to regain control or at this rate I will lose, I can't lose, not like this. I promised All-Might and my friends I would win and show everyone my progress._' Midoriya was getting really desperate to find anyway to release himself from the purple-haired boy who was watching him with a smirk.

As he reached the edge of the arena, something strange happened. When he looked on towards the gate he had entered from, eight figures covered in shadows stood staring at him as he stared back. He couldn't recognize any of them although one of them did resemble All-Might a little but it was hard to say since the figures had little to distinguish themselves.

Suddenly his quirk activated in two of his fingers and these fingers somehow raised themselves and came down creating an air shockwave that pushed Shinso back and the damage done to his fingers due to that move helped Midoriya regain control over his body again.

Everybody starred at Midoriya in disbelief including Midoriya himself as he looked down on his broken fingers. However, unlike everybody else, he didn't have the time to think about it too hard and turned to face an angry Shinso.

'_Did Midoriya's quirk activate on it's own? Is All-Might's quirk, no…Midoriya's quirk, so powerful that it can overpower brainwashing now?_' Shino watched in amassment at his friend.

"How did you break free?!" Shinso couldn't wrap his head around how his green-haired opponent got out of his control. To his credit, even Midoriya didn't know the answer to that.

Midoriya didn't answer Shinso's question and presumed the attack he began before being brainwashed.

"So you were saved by your quirk! Must be nice having such a strong and useful quirk huh? You must feel so lucky. I wanted to be a hero too you know, but everyone called me a villain just because of my quirk with no other reason. They avoided me fearing that I would use my quirk on them." Shinso tried again to force Midoriya to respond but he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.

'_No it's not useful, not yet. I know what it feels like for people to judge you for something you had no hand in._' Midoriya couldn't voice his responses right now but he understood where Shinso came from. Nonetheless, he had to win right now and that meant Shinso had to lose.

Midoriya went with a right hook that Shinso barely dodged then grabbed Midoriya's arm and pulled him towards himself switching their positions with Shinso now pushing Midoriya to the bounds.

Unfortunately, Midoriya had more fighting experience as he used this to his advantage. He grabbed Shinso's arm and much like what he did with Bakugo in the battle trial, he flipped Shinso over his shoulder throwing him out of the arena and winning the fight.

"**Shinso is out of bounds! The winner and the first to advance to the semi-finals is Midoriya!**"

While the audience cheered for Midoriya, Shinso slowly stood up and walked towards the gate before Midoriya stopped him.

"Shinso, wait!" The purple-haired boy turned with an annoyed look fully expecting Midoriya to rub his win in his face. "I just wanted to tell you Good fight." much like Shino two weeks ago; Shinso felt nothing but honesty in Midoriya's word.

"And for what it's worth, I think your quirk is great, and would be great for a hero. You would easily be able to extract information from villains and it would be very useful in hostage situations."

Shinso was taken off-guard by the shorter boy's mumbling spree but what he understood was that he thought his quirk was good for a hero. There were two firsts for Shinso here, first time anyone willingly talked to him know what his quirk did, and first time someone called his quirk good or impressive. This caused him to smile ever so slightly.

"Thanks." Was all Shinso said before he walked away which was enough to snap Midoriya from his thinking and he smiled knowing that he somehow helped.

When Midoriya returned to the seats, he was swarmed by his classmates congratulating him on his win and asking him how was he able to break out of Shinso's hold with the only exceptions being Shino and Bakugo.

"To be honest guys, I myself don't know how I did it exactly." Midoriya's answer confused his classmates but they opted to not pressure him just after his match.

"You were awesome anyway Deku!" Uraraka ran to her friend's side holding his hands and shaking them violently.

"Indeed Midoriya, your fight was most interesting." Iida stated.

Midoriya face burned red at the compliments he was getting and other reasons, "Thanks guys."

The celebratory atmosphere changed however when the next match was announced.

"**The second match has been decided! The two fighters are Bakugo and Uraraka!**"

A scoff was heard as Bakugo got off his seat and headed to his waiting room without saying a word. Class 1-A then all turned to Uraraka with sympathetic looks but Uraraka gave them a determined one instead, although she couldn't stop her body from shaking.

"Guess it's my turn now. I better head to the waiting room." Uraraka didn't want her friends to see her break down, she needed to be strong, she had to win even if the opponent was Bakugo.

"Uraraka wait!" Midoriya stopped Uraraka before she rushed to the waiting room.

"Take my notebook. It has everything on Kacchan you'd need to make a plan and win." Midoriya extended a hand holding said notebook.

"Thanks Deku, but I have to do this on my own. I can't rely on you to win this." Uraraka was thankful for Midoriya's offer knowing how much he treasures his notebook, but this was her fight to win her own way.

"Yeah but-" Midoriya tried to argue but was stopped when Shino placed a hand on his shoulder.

"She's right Midoriya, it's her fight, and she must fight her own way, not have what amounts to a cheat code on her opponent. And as much as I don't like Bakugo, it's not fair for him either to be have such a disadvantage." Midoriya lowered his head starring at the ground realizing his mistake.

"You're right. Sorry Uraraka." Midoriya raised his head with a smile. "I know you can beat Kacchan your way. I believe in you."

"Thank you Deku." Uraraka was barely holding her tears at this point but smiled at her friend's kindness and trust.

"Remember Uraraka, do your best, that's all anybody can ask of you. Do your best and everything will be okay." Shino gave his own smile trying to comfort the brown-haired girl before her fight.

"Indeed Uraraka, you are a formidable fighter and I am sure you will be fine." Iida too encouraged his friend.

"Thank you guys. I heading off now, wish me luck." Uraraka hurried to her designated waiting room.

At the waiting room, Uraraka raked her brain trying to this of a plan to counter the explosion-user. Unfortunately, her brain came empty and she was starting to give up, until her friends' word came to her mind. '_I can't give up! There is too much at stake here. I must win for my friends and for my parents._' Remembering her reason for fighting gave Uraraka the push she needed to think up a plan to win her upcoming fight against one her class's most fearsome fighters.

When it was announced that it was time for the match to start, Uraraka took a deep breath and steeled her resolve. Now was time for action.

The two fighters reached the arena as the audience's cheers grew louder. Uraraka had a determined fire burning in her eyes while Bakugo was surprisingly quiet and his stare looked sharper.

With a signal from Midnight Uraraka charged at Bakugo ready to touch him with her pads but Bakugo didn't hesitate to blow her up with an uppercut explosion. This didn't dissuade Uraraka from charging again from a different angle looking for an opening to exploit. However, Bakugo wouldn't allow it as he turned to face her with another explosion a little bit stronger than the previous one that knocked her back while breaking parts of the arena.

As if the boy's explosions didn't matter, Uraraka resumed her charge but once again Bakugo's explosion met her. This time though, she recovered faster and came at Bakugo as he noticed her through the smoke, and once again blasted her only to discover that it was only her floating jacket. The real Uraraka came from behind him and tried once again to touch him wither pads but Bakugo's reflexes were just too fast and he turned around blasting her once more, this time the force of the blast caused her to hit the ground hard. Even that however didn't seem to discourage the young girl as she got up fast and continued with her plan.

The audience that was cheering at the beginning of the fight were now horrified at the poor girl's suffering and many of them were booing at Bakugo and demanding that if he was that much powerful then he should just throw her out of bounds instead of drawing out the fight. He on the other hand didn't even respond and instead kept his gaze focused on his opponent.

At the students' seats, many of them couldn't believe Bakugo was so merciless as to not hold back even against a girl and some of them even hid their faces not wanting to watch this one-sided fight any longer.

"How can Bakugo be so brutal? And against a girl too?" Kaminari asked.

"How did someone like that want to be a hero?" Yaoyorozu got many nods of agreement as they couldn't help but feel sorry for Uraraka.

"You're all wrong." Shino's words shocked the others as he, Midoriya, and Iida closely watched the fight not letting the brutality stop them from supporting their friend.

"What are you saying?! That what Bakugo is doing is okay?!" Jiro asked furious that this came from the girl's closest friends.

"Look at Kacchan." Midoriya pointed at the explosion-user prompting them to look too.

"He's not smiling, he's not angry like usual, he's focused. It's because he acknowledges Uraraka as a real opponent that he can't let his guard down or else he may loss. He is doing everything he can to win. And so is Uraraka." Despite knowing all that, Shino couldn't help but shake in anger and Iida used his glasses to hid the glares he was giving Bakugo right now. They had to believe in Uraraka and that meant watching the fight to the end, whatever that end may be.

Everybody's attention then switched to Uraraka and were shocked to see that despite the damage done to her and that she clearly looked exhausted, her eyes showed nothing but determination and the desire to win was still burning strong in them as she stood facing Bakugo.

"Thank you Bakugo, for not holding back." The half-conscious girl was barely standing at this point; much too tired from all the hits she received.

"The hell are you talking about?" Bakugo questioned her.

"Because you kept your focus on me, I was able to do this!" Uraraka connected the pads on her hands together releasing her quirk's hold on the huge rocks and debris that no one noticed were floating in mid-air.

"She collected the broken parts of the arena caused by Bakugo's explosions and released them all at once?!" everyone realized what Uraraka was doing the entire match wasn't out of desperation but a plan she had constructed to win.

Rocks of various sizes came falling down like a meteor shower directed at Bakugo and at the same time Uraraka charged again extending her hand to touch him once again.

'_He won't be fast enough to deal with the falling debris and my attack. He will have to choose one but either way, I win._' Uraraka was confident in her plan and herself.

Bakugo however didn't move or try to dodge. He raised his arm and held it by the other arm then released a massive explosion akin to a missile hitting it target towards the falling debris wiping it all away and the force of the explosion managed to throw away Uraraka cancelling her attack as her plan fell apart.

"I thought you were planning something. I was right to not let my guard down." Bakugo was getting excited now. Uraraka on the other hand, looked in horror as the plan she worked so hard to execute amounted to nothing.

"I can't give up now!", '_if Deku was here he wouldn't give up this easily, he would fight to the end._' With these thoughts Uraraka once again stood up to continue the fight.

"It's time to get serious, Uraraka!" Bakugo shouted for his opponent to come at him finally calling her by her actual name. But when Uraraka moved to charge at Bakugo, her legs finally gave out and she fell to the ground unable to push herself further. Even though, she tried to crawl showing her dedication and determination to the world. Nonetheless, her body couldn't keep up with her willpower and she passed out from exhaustion.

Midnight came down to the arena to check on the unconscious girl then made the announcement.

"**Uraraka is unable to continue the fight. The winner is Bakugo.**"

Bakugo glanced at the girl on the ground before leaving the arena to return to his seat.

Soon enough, the medical droids came with the stretcher and carried Uraraka to Recovery Girl for healing as the audience cheered for the brave girl.

Before anybody could notice, Midoriya, Iida, and Shino rushed to the infirmary to check on their friend not caring for the fact that two of them still had matches that might be next.

When they arrived at one of the infirmary rooms, Iida opened the door a little too hard startling Uraraka who was now awake and Recovery Girl who was treating her wounds, which were surprisingly not that dangerous.

Recovery Girl was quick to reprimand Iida for almost breaking her door as the latter apologized heavily while bowing his head repeatedly. While that was happening, Midoriya and Shino chose to check on their friend's recovery, both physically and mentally.

"How are you doing Uraraka?" Shino asked. He knew she was taking her defeat very hard but he needed to see if she was willing to talk about it.

"I'm fine Shino, Recovery Girl was almost finished treating my injuries when you guys came." Uraraka did her best fake smile and lied; she knew what Shino was asking about but didn't want to talk about it because she knew that if she did, the tears she's been holding up since she woke up and learned of her loss would finally fall.

Shino understood what the girl was going through and didn't push any further. If she didn't want to talk right now then that was her choice. However, that won't stop him from trying to comfort her anyway, that's what friends are for right?

"But you were amazing out there Uraraka. Your plan was well thought-out and you were so brave and strong." Shino wasn't the only one who understood Uraraka's pain, Midoriya too wanted to comfort his friend that always cheered him on and encouraged him.

"Yeah Uraraka, I am proud to call you my friend. You have set an example for all of us to follow." Iida, finally free from Recovery Girl's grasp, also tried to cheer the shorter girl.

"Thanks guys, but I don't think I was that good. I didn't even land a hit on Bakugo." Uraraka's tears were getting harder to hold back as she remembered her fight.

"Nonsense!" Shino now chimed in, "You might have not heard it but the audience was so moved by your bravery and determination that they kept sheering for you well after the match ended." Iida and Midoriya nodded in confirmation.

"It's like Shino told you Uraraka. Do your best, that's all anyone could ask of you. And you did that and more." Midoriya gave Uraraka a reassuring smile.

"Thank you," Uraraka was so grateful for her friends but didn't want to talk about it any longer, she changed the subject, "but speaking of matches shouldn't Shino and Iida return since one of them is bound to be in the next match?"

Right on cue, the speaker in the room spoke.

"**Contestant Shino and contestant Iida, please head to the waiting rooms. Your match will start shortly.**"

"Wait does that mean we're fighting each other?" Shino wasn't expecting that.

"Looks like it, well it seems only one of us can advance to the semi-finals I'm afraid. Let the best man win." Iida extended his hand to Shino with a smile that said 'and that man well be me'.

"Don't worry I will win." Shino shook Iida's hand with a smile of his own as the fire of competition burned between the two friends.

"Then I will return to the stands. Uraraka you still need to rest right?" Midoriya asked Uraraka.

"Yeah Recovery Girl hasn't finish bandaging me yet but when I'm finished I will join you in the stands. Good luck you two." Uraraka said.

"Now that's over, all of you get out of the room it hard to move around with you here." Recovery Girl pushed the three boys out of the room then turned around to Uraraka with a sad face.

"They are good friends you know, you could have told them." Tears that Uraraka was holding for so long finally broke free as she cried and cried.

"I know…I know but I didn't want them to see me like this." The elderly woman wrapped the teen in a warm and comforting hug.

"You don't have to hold it in anymore, let it all out." Recovery Girl rubbed her head as Uraraka continued to cry on her shoulder.

While Shino and Iida headed to their waiting rooms, Midoriya returned to the stands, reassured the rest of the class about their friend's wellbeing, and took his seat to watch the match between two of his best friends.

When the time came both Iida and Shino climbed the arena and readied themselves for the fight ahead of them.

On the signal, Iida charged at Shino. He wasn't as fast as he was against Hatsume but he was fast enough that Shino didn't have time to touch the ground but instead created a small platform to block the incoming kick headed to his face.

On the first instance of contact between Iida's leg and the platform, Shino folded it catching Iida by the leg and rising him off the ground so he wouldn't be able to run.

In response, Iida tried to use his other leg to kick the golden cast breaking it and freeing himself but Shino was quick to wrap that leg as well immobilizing Iida then he threw him out of bounds winning the match.

After Shino was announced the winner, he went to Iida, removing the gold and helping him get up as the two friends walked together back to their seats. However, as they were walking in one of the corridors leading to their seats, Iida's phone rang and he identified the caller to be his mother.

"Go on without me Shino, after I finish this phone call I will join you once again." Iida was a little bit embarrassed to talk to his mother right after his loss.

"Sure thing Iida, see at the stands then." Shino left Iida to deal with his family but as he walked, he started thinking about who would be in the next match. That's when he realized that the only two competitors that are yet to fight were Kendo and Todoroki, meaning that it was their fight next. Shino started running to catch up with Kendo before she went to her waiting room but when he arrived, he couldn't find her with the rest of class 1-B.

"If you're looking for Kendo she already left to get ready." Tokage caught Shino's attention.

"So she left huh? What a bummer." Shino pouted.

"What? Are you sad that you didn't get to see her off?" Tokage smirked thinking she was gonna get a blush out of him.

"Well yes actually, I was hoping to do that but it's okay, she's strong, she doesn't really need that." Shino answered with straight face surprising Tokage and ruining her plans.

"You're really open with your feelings huh?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Tokage doubled down in shock at the gold-maker's response.

"You know some people are embarrassed to show how they feel." Tokage tried to explain it to Shino.

"I know but I never understood it, it's part of being human, why should I hide it or feel embarrassed by it?" Shino explained his reasoning.

Before Tokage could argue with Shino on that, their attention was drawn to the arena when Kendo and Todoroki exited. Both Shino and Tokage decided to just go to their seats to watch.

Shino found Midoriya and Uraraka sitting in their usual seats. When the two noticed his presence, a smile drew itself on their faces.

"Congratulation Shino, you and Iida were awesome," Midoriya then noticed that Iida wasn't with Shino, "By the way, where is Iida?"

"He had a family call and said he will join us after it's over. I'm actually surprised he hasn't finished yet." Shino said as he sat down next to his friends.

"I hope his family isn't angry at him for losing." Was concerned for her friend.

"I'm sure he's fine. Now let's focus on the match." Shino ignored the looks his friends gave him in favor of watching Kendo's fight.

Todoroki started the fight the same way he did with Sero, with an ice wave attack, but this one was significantly smaller in comparison, probably to not hit the people outside of the arena.

Kendo quickly enlarged her fists and used them to shield herself from the attack but her hands became stuck in ice. She returned them to their normal size to free herself.

Before Todoroki attacked again, Kendo broke some of the ice from the previous attack then threw the pieces at him. Todoroki created an ice wall to shield him from the attack but in the process lost his visual on Kendo who took the chance to finally get closer to put Todoroki in her field of expertise.

'_If I can just get close he won't have time to create more ice and I'm much superior to him in close combat._' was Kendo's thought process as she charged at the ice shield breaking it but she found no one behind it. Suddenly, another ice wave hit her as Todoroki emerged from the behind some of the ice from his first attack.

"You tried to use the fact that I couldn't see you from behind the ice wall but you forgot that the same logic applies to you too." Todoroki explained.

Kendo was quick to get up but she knew that Todoroki won't give her a chance to escape so she charged forward. Todoroki made another wave in order to freeze her in place this time but before the attack hit her, she punched the ground raising part of the pavement to act as her shield.

After surviving the attack, Kendo picked up the frozen pavement and threw it at Todoroki. This time he didn't try to shield himself from the attack, instead he sent a wave that froze the projectile in place while attempting to attack kendo who was charging at him. Kendo was able to dodge the attack because it was slower than the previous attacks.

Kendo was able close the distance and throw a punch at Todoroki but he created a small ice pillar that caught her fist trapping her.

"Your determination is admirable, but it's not enough." Todoroki said as he came close to finally incase his opponent in ice and secure the win. However, that's what Kendo was waiting for. when Todoroki was close enough, she shrank her hand freeing herself then used the pillar to make a swing kick at Todoroki's left side because she knew from what Shino told her before and her own observations that he can't emit his ice from it. Kendo's kick connected with Todoroki's side sending him into an ice wall.

"Don't underestimate me Todoroki." Kendo felt like she had a chance against him now that she delivered a powerful hit.

"As you wish." An ice attack lunched from where Todoroki was. The attack was so fast and sudden that Kendo couldn't fully dodge it and her left leg was caught in ice.

"This is nothing!" Kendo raised her fist ready to break the ice as she did before but another ice attack froze her Fist as another covered her body and she became unable to move anything but her head.

"You fought well, but I'm simply stronger." Todoroki stated as he walked away.

"**Kendo is unable to fight; the winner of the last match in the second round is Todoroki!**" Midnight made the announcement, as Kendo was freed from her icy prison with a look of defeat on her and walked away to return to her seat.

When she reached the class 1-B seats, Shino came from behind the small wall that separated the class 1-B seats and class 1-A seat surprising Kendo, but she was quick to calm down.

"Hey Shino, sorry it seems I was the one to break our promise." Kendo looked down in disappointment.

"What are you talking about? Kendo you fought the most powerful student in our class and possibly out of the entire first year students and you were the first to actually do any kind of damage on him. You should be proud." Shino put his hand on her shoulder.

"But I lost anyway." Kendo argued

"So what? Losing is not the end of the world, you know. It can be a learning experience if you're willing to learn. So cheer up, okay? You know what I always say."

"As long as you do your best, everything is gonna be fine. I know I know, you told me that phrase so much it's engraved in my mind." Kendo gave little laugh when she remembered the time she spent with Shino before the festival.

"You better keep it engraved, it's true and you know it." Shino gave the warmest smile he could muster.

"Yeah I know. Thank you Shino, I really needed this." Kendo felt her worries and doubts disappear and replaced with a warm feeling in her chest, she was thankful that she met Shino.

"Glad to help." Shino was happy to know that his attempt to cheer his friend was a success.

Awkward silence grew after that as they had nothing to talk about at the moment and Kendo saw it appropriate to just end it here before it became unbearable.

"I think I should get back to my seat now. They will probably announce the semi-finals match-ups any minute now."

"Yeah sure, see you soon then." The two separated and returned to their seats and their friends.

"**After much anticipation the four students that fought their way through to the semi-finals will now face off against each other to see who will raise to the finals. The matches will be Todoroki vs Midoriya and Bakugo vs Shino.**"

The color almost drained from Shino's face as looked at the board announcing who his opponent would be and his worst nightmare came life.

'_No no no no, god damn it! Why does life just like screwing with me?!_' Shino mentally screamed but eventually accepted his fate and started thinking of how to deal with situation he was now in.

'_Okay, how am I supposed to keep my scars a secret when I'm fighting him?...There is no way I can do that!_' It seems that some secrets are destined to be uncovered.

**Thank you for reading.**

**AN: WOW! Ten chapters done. Considering my habit to leave things unfinished, this is a huge achievement. And I know I couldn't have done it without everyone that took the time to read this story, thank you. I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.**

**Once again, I ask you that if there is anything you feel needs to be improved or if you have any questions to please tell me so I can improve the story's quality.**


	11. Chapter 11

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 11**

Shino was so lost in thought trying to find a solution to the situation he's in that he didn't notice that the first match between Midoriya and Todoroki was about to begin until he felt a shift beside him that snapped him out of his trance. Looking to his side he found Midoriya standing up with a worried expression and Uraraka standing next to him trying to cheer him on and still no sign of Iida.

"Where are you going?" Shino asked confused.

"It's my match now against Todoroki, didn't you hear Midnight?"

Shino was a little shocked, was he that worried about his match that he lost touch with reality?

"Sorry, I've was lost in thought."

"Are you ok Shino? Your match is with Kacchan, is that why you look worried?" Midoriya asked as he and Uraraka shifted their concern to the taller boy. Shino stood up, now wasn't the time to panic, his friend needed some cheering instead of worrying about him.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Just focus on your match and show Todoroki what's for!" He smiled to his two friends to show that he was fine and to maybe fool himself into believing it as well.

"Sure thing!" Midoriya raised his arms with determination but Shino could see it in his eyes, the worry and fear, but he also saw hope and positivity and the smile Midoriya gave was genuine, it was like Midoriya was conflicted about something. Shino knew it had to do with what Todoroki told Midoriya after the second competition but since Midoriya wouldn't talk about it he couldn't help.

"Then you better go now!" Shino raised his hand as well, he may not be able to help his friend but he can at least cheer him on.

With the cheering of his two friends, Midoriya headed to the waiting room to prepare.

After the three minutes passed, the two opponents both climbed the arena, ready for the fight of their lives.

'_Looks like Todoroki is also worried. Just what did he talk to Midoriya about exactly, I need to know._' Shino was curious as to what would be so big as to make the both of them like this.

"**Let the first match of the semi-finals Begin!**" Midnight Shouted giving the signal for the two students to start their fight.

Todoroki was the first to react and like all his other matches; he sent an icy wave with the goal of incapacitating his opponent as fast as possible. Midoriya however, raised his hand and channeled his quirk through one of his fingers then flicked it. That flick sent a shockwave strong enough to not only destroy the ice but also push back Todoroki who created a small ice wall behind him to stop himself. However, with that flick, Midoriya broke his finger. He looked to be in so much pain but his determination didn't waver.

'_I was right to not use my hand from the beginning and instead use each finger alone. From what I know about Todoroki's fighting style, he attacks instantaneously and from a distance. If I can find an opening…_' Midoriya was analyzing his opponent trying to find a way to defeat him.

Todoroki was fast to send another wave, which Midoriya destroyed with another flick while breaking another of his fingers. Todoroki didn't give up sending two more waves at Midroiya but he was quick to sacrifice two of his fingers to stop the attacks as he screamed out in pain.

'_I knew it,_' Shino wasn't happy with how the match was going, '_He's gonna break every bone in his body if he has to. At this rate, even if Midoriya wins he won't be able to fight or do anything for a while. I hope you know what you're doing._'

Hoping to get an advantage on the green-haired boy, Todoroki created an ice platform and used it to close the distance between him and Midoriya. Seeing this Midoriya used one of his newly healed fingers from his fight with Shinso and flicked it destroying the platform Todoroki created. Unfortunately, he was too late as by the time he destroyed it, Todoroki was close enough to jump at Midoriya who rolled out of the way but as Todoroki touched the ground, ice sprouted quickly at Midoriya catching his legs.

'_if the ice spreads anymore, I will be unable to fight._' Remembering Todoroki's fight with Kendo, Midoriya didn't want end up the same way. Instead of using one finger, he used his entire arm punching the ice away and sending an even bigger shockwave at Todoroki that blew away most of the ice off the arena. However, the tradeoff was that he now had a broken left arm and four broken fingers on the right one.

As the air cleared from his attack, Midoriya saw a pile of ice with Todoroki within it, he had created more ice to stop and shield himself from the attack.

'_What do I do now? It's not just his quirk, his skills and judgment and all his abilities are strong._' Midoriya mentally shook his head, '_No! I can't think like that! I have to win no matter what!_' Midoriya looked tired and was raking damage while Todoroki was yet to be injured once. However, when Midoriya took a second look on Todoroki's right side he noticed he was trembling and frost was visible on his arm. '_Is that a drawback of his quirk? But then… Damn it!_' Midoriya was getting angry.

"With your arms in this condition, you won't be able to dodge or block, this is the final blow. I have to thank you Midoriya, because of you that guy's face is clouded over." Todoroki glanced at the stand in the direction of his father, the number two pro-hero; Endeavour who was visibly annoyed by his son's behavior then lunched a big wave at Midoriya to finish him off.

"Where are you looking?!" A shockwave surprised Todoroki breaking the ice and almost pushing him out of the arena. Midoriya had used the already broken finger of his right hand to flick one again and breaking the finger even more.

'_This going beyond just breaking his bones, if he continues like this, Midoriya might suffer irreversible damage to his body. Even so, I know he won't quit, that's just the kind of person he is. Watch out Todoroki, the fight isn't over yet._' The will to fight on no matter the consequences. Shino hated that part of his friend but he admired too.

"Why are you going so far Midoriya? Todoroki was perplexed as to what was driving Midoriya to take such extreme actions.

"You're trembling, Todoroki." Midoriya's word stunned the dual-haired boy.

"Quirks are physical abilities. There has to be a limit to how much cold your body can handle. That problem would have been solved if you used your left side, but you refuse to do so." Todoroki didn't like where Midoriya was going with this but he didn't stop him.

"Everyone is giving it everything they've got. Doing their best to achieve their dreams. And you want to win using only half your strength?" Midoriya struggled to raise his broken hand and clutched it into fist.

"I may have not put a scratch on you yet. But the same could be said for you. So come Todoroki, come at me with your full power!" Midoriya screamed at his opponent, challenging him to use his full power.

"Midoriya, did my father buy off or something?" It was Todoroki's turn to get angry. He charged at Midoriya instead of just shooting another wave. However, his movements were sluggish which was easily noticed by anybody that watched closely, and Midoriya was one of them.

'_Is this because of the frost gathering on his body? If so, then I have a chance._' Midoriya prepared himself.

"In close quarters. You won't be able to do anything." Todoroki jumped at Midoriya extending his left hand to freeze him. However, this was what Midoriya was waiting for, as he surprised Todoroki by moving forward at the moment his legs left the ground instead of trying to dodge and delivering a quirk-powered punch straight to his stomach sending him flying. What was surprising was the fact that Midoriya's arm didn't break although it still hurt like hell. On the other hand, Todoroki managed to touch Midoriya's other arm freezing it.

Todoroki stood up and returned to his original plan of attacking from a distance with ice waves but by now, even his waves were getting slower as more frost gathered over his left side.

Midoriya evaded the attack but found himself face to face with Todoroki again. He was quick to point his non-frozen hand in his direction shooting a shockwave that pushed Todoroki back.

This kept on going on with Todoroki shooting wave after wave while trying to get close to Midoriya as the latter broke his fingers even more in order to push him back. As the fight went on, the teachers watching the fight began to realize what Shino figured out a while ago, that Midoriya's injuries won't be healed that easily.

After breaking every finger in his hand to the point of not being able to form a fist anymore, Midoriya used his lips and his thump to send a powerful shockwave at Todoroki that he had to create more ice behind him to survive it but he was getting exhausted and angry. As he got up, Midoriya was charging at him again.

"Why are you going so far?!" Todoroki couldn't comprehend why anyone would go through so much pain willingly.

"It's because I want to be a cool hero!" the answer and the conviction behind it surprised Todoroki.

"I want to be a hero who can smile despite the pain! I want to be the number one hero!" Todoroki hesitated for some reason and Midoriya used that hesitation to head-butt him in the stomach sending him flying.

"That's why everyone is doing their best. I don't know your full circumstances Todoroki, but to think you can become number one without giving it your all just to reject your father, stop screwing around!"

'_Rejecting his father? What's Midoriya talking about?_' Midoriya's voice was easily heard by everyone but wanting to focus on the action rather than the intense debate between the two heroes-in-training, nobody thought more into it. Everybody except Shino. '_Todoroki's father is Endeavour right? He gets his fire side from him and his ice side is probably from his mother. But he hates his fire side, is it because it's from his father? But what did Endeavour do to him exactly?_' A single idea came to Shino's mind. '_Todoroki's scar! There is no way that scar was from misusing his quirk. If that were the case, the scar wouldn't be only on his face since the effects of his ice quirk seem to spread slowly throughout his entire body. Don't tell me the one that gave him that scar was his father!_' that idea startled Shino and made him real back in his chair in disgust.

"Shut up!" Todoroki shouted for the first time. "I will reject him completely! I will never rely on his power to achieve my goal!"

"But it not his power! It's yours! Your Power!" Midoriya shouted back. His words seemed like they knocked Todoroki out mentally and moved something inside him as he starred not knowing how to respond.

Suddenly, fire began to erupt around Todoroki's left side. That fire grew in an instant creating a huge pillar of fire the heat of which reached the stands and melted the frost that accumulated on his right side. However, despite all that Midoriya only had a smile on his face.

"Why are smiling?" Todoroki asked now in his usual calm tone again. "You just helped your enemy become stronger and you're still pretty injured, so who's screwing around now." Midoriya's smile didn't fade but only grew.

"I want to be a hero." For the first time, Todoroki had a smile on his face, not a small smile either, a big smile that showed relief and hope.

'_Was that your plan from the beginning Midoriya? To help Todoroki overcome the barriers he himself put and make him a better person? Is there a limit to how heroic you can get?_' Shino felt proud of his friend's actions and achievement.

"SHOTO! YOU HAVE FINALLY ACCEPTED YOUR DESTINY?! YES! WITH MY BLOOD RUNNING THROUGH YOUR VEINS, YOU WILL SURPASS ME AND ACHIEVE MY DREAM!" Endeavour started shouting from the stands with a huge grin of satisfaction as if he already became the number one hero or something. However, Todoroki didn't even glance at the screaming man instead staring directly at the opponent that managed to help him draw out his full potential.

"It's time to end this!" Ice started appearing on Todoroki's right side as the flames on his left raged even more creating an intimidating image that was sure to scare the biggest of villains.

Midoriya was not scared however, he was excited, "Show me what you've got!" Midoriya channeled his quirk through his legs and the air around him started to swirl violently destroying the ice covering his left arm.

"Midnight this is getting dangerous! If we don't stop them now, there may be a danger on their lives!" Cementoss Shouted as he touched the ground in order to raise walls between the two students.

"On it!" Midnight removed part of her costume in order to release her sleeping gas.

However, both heroes were a little too late to realize the danger as the two opponents had already moved.

Todoroki launched a huge ice attack at Midoriya who lunched himself at Todoroki with a boost from his quirk dodging the attack and heading straight from the boy. Todoroki then used his fire side to emit the hottest flame he could make. On the other side, Midoriya channeled his quirk in his right arm and since he couldn't make a fist, he used a slap that utilized his full strength.

At that moment, the cement walls were finally raised only to be demolished by the two attacks creating a huge explosion that wrecked the arena and pushed everyone back into their seats and knocked anyone standing and creating a cloud of steam that covered the wrecked arena. Even the people outside the stadium could feel the shock.

As the steam dissipated, everyone was looking for any sign of the two heroes-in-training until a figure was spotted in the arena. It was a barely conscious Todoroki with a half-burned shirt who managed to somehow make some ice to prevent him from being knocked over.

"But where is Midoriya/Deku?!" Both Shino and Uraraka said at the same time as they searched for their friend across the arena.

They found him unconscious and his back to the walls outside the arena, meaning that he lost the match.

"**Midoriya is out of bounds, the winner of the first semi-finals match is Todoroki!**" Midnight announced. The medical droids were then allowed to enter and take the two student to Recovery Girl.

When Midoriya woke up, he found himself on hospital bed. When he tried to move his arms, he found that he couldn't. They were wrapped in a way that prevented them from moving.

"Take it easy there Midoriya. You just came out of surgery." A familiar voice caused him to open his eyes to find Shino, Uraraka, and others from his class were sitting around his bed with Shino and Uraraka being the closest. How he didn't feel them around him? He didn't know.

"Your arms and legs were pretty damaged that it wasn't be easy to fix you know." Came another familiar voice, but when Midoriya looked for the source he found a skeleton-like man with sunken eyes and blond hair.

"Did I lose?" Was all Midoriya asked with a pained expression.

"Yes, yes you did. But look on the bright side; you helped Todoroki quite a bit." Shino's words brought some satisfaction to Midoriya's heart but didn't erase the bitterness of loss.

"However," Shino's tone changed to a slightly angry one, "we need to talk about you and the damage you're doing to your body. I somewhat understand why you did what you did but still, that was very dangerous Midoriya. It's a miracle your wound could be healed at all let alone this good. You will still have some scars but it's better than losing them."

"Yeah Deku! You scared us to death; please don't damage your body like that again." Uraraka added as the rest of the students in the room nodded in agreement.

"Your friends are right young Midoriya. What you did was reckless if admirable. Please think before you put yourself in such pain." The skeletal man said as he stood behind the students.

"Sorry guys, I wanted to win so much that I didn't care what happened to me and caused you worry. I apologize. I promise to do better." Midoriya lowered his head in regret. Then he noticed something.

"Wait, where's Iida? Didn't he return yet?" Everyone lowered their heads at the mention of the class-president.

"From what we know, it seems he has a family problem he left to take care of." Shino quickly answered.

"I hope everything is fine. Also, shouldn't your match have already started Shino?"

"The last attack you and Todoroki made wrecked the arena so they're still rebuilding it."

"I see."

"Speaking of which, since I made sure you were fine, or at least as fine as you can be considering what you just did, I'm gonna go talk to Todoroki now. His injuries were nothing compared to yours but he's in the next room recovering." Shino stood up and headed for the door.

"About what?" The question didn't come from Midoriya alone, the others in the room had that question on their faces.

"Sorry but that's between me and him only. Although you already know the subject very well Midoriya." Shino said but before he exited the room, he went up to Recovery Girl who was sitting on her desk on the other side of the room watching over her patient to make sure he does nothing to damage his body again.

"Ms. Chiyo? Could you prepare a long-sleeved shirt for me?" The fact that Shino used her name instead of her hero name surprised the old woman.

"You never use my actual name unless it's important. Is there a problem?" Recovery Girl was getting worried.

"There is no time to explain. Please just prepare it." Shino pleaded.

"Fine. It will be ready when you come again to take it." Recovery Girl relented.

"Thanks." With that, Shino exited the room and headed to the room where Todoroki was staying.

Standing in front of the door, Shino thought of what he wanted to talk about with Todoroki and knocked on the door then entered.

"How are doing Todoroki?" Shino greeted but was met with confusion and concern from the other boy.

"What are doing here? Shouldn't you be with Midoriya? Are you here to take revenge on me for what happened to him?" Todoroki questioned Shino's motivations while making some wild claims with a straight face.

"The hell are you talking about? Why would I take revenge on you? Do I look like a guy who would do that?" Shino couldn't help but feel offended by Todoroki's assumption.

"Well you did get into a fight with Bakugo when he injured Midoriya."

"That was because he was a jerk that endangered everyone's lives with his recklessness. In your case, Midoriya did most of the damage to himself."

"Then why are you here?" Todoroki asked with suspicion in his eyes.

"What? I can't check on my injured friend?" Shino answered with a smile.

"Friend? I don't remember declaring we're friends?" Todoroki was puzzled by Shino's answer and looked like he was going down memory lane to see if he did declare Shino his friend.

"Declaring? You seem to have a different meaning to the word friend."

"Well I never had any."

Shino's eyes widened a little, "That's just sad. Well consider me your second friend then."

"And who's the first?" Todoroki was confused again; did he have friends that he didn't know about?

"Midoriya of course!"

"Midoriya is my friend?" Todoroki's confusion increased.

"Unless you're telling me everybody just casually break their body and endanger themselves to help you than yes he is."

"No, no they don't." Todoroki lowered his head with a thoughtful expression as he considered Shino's words.

Shino took a seat next to Todoroki, "And as your friend, I want to ask you something." his expression turned serious while keeping the smile.

"Ask me about what?" Todoroki asked

"What did you and Midoriya talk about after the second competition?"

The question caught Todoroki off guard and he looked to the side to avoid Shino's gaze.

"Why do want to know?"

"Because it was something big that clearly affected the two of you and your fight. I want to help you both but I can't if I don't know the problem."

Todoroki stayed silent and his expression was pained and Shino could tell that he was remembering something bad because he had that same expression many times.

"Was it about your father and your quirk?" Todoroki's head snapped to Shino in a mixture of anger and surprise.

"Did Midoriya say something?!"

"No he didn't, he wouldn't talk about it either so I thought I should go directly to the source." Shino calmed down Todoroki.

"Then how did you know?"

"Well, I pride myself on being very observant when it comes to humans and how they act. Also both of you were shouting during your match so I heard everything and put the pieces together on my own. Although I don't think I have the complete picture, that's why I'm here."

"Why should I tell you anything?" Todoroki asked being careful around Shino now.

"I don't know; why did you tell Midoriya?" Shino retorted.

"I only told him because I thought he was All-Might's secret love child."

Shino starred at him for a moment with an expression of disbelief before laughing so hard he started crying.

"Okay! I didn't see that coming! How the hell did you reach that conclusion?!" Shino asked while wiping his tears.

"You saw All-Might's power in the USJ attack didn't you? In the second competition, I could feel something similar from him."

"So the first conclusion you came up with was that he was his secret love child?!" Shino had to admit, despite the idea being so out-there it was funny, he wasn't that far off and maybe if he heard what Shino heard then he might have figured out the truth too.

"Yes. And I'm still not completely convince that isn't the case."

"I don't think it's like that." Shino tried to dissuade the boy from his pursuit.

"So there is something between them and you know about it!" Todoroki exclaimed.

"That's not what I meant; stop misinterpreting things just to fit your crazy theory. Anyway, we're getting off-topic; can you tell me what you told Midoriya so I can help however I can?"

"Why do you want to help me?" Todoroki did still not totally believe of Shino.

"I can see that whatever your father did to you left a deep scare on your heart, that's why you always distance yourself and don't interact with others unless necessary. I don't like seeing that, plus it's getting to Midoriya too, so I want to help. From what I know, talking about you're problems makes you feel better."

"Do you expect me to believe that you just want to help me just because of that?"

"And what would I gain from helping you get over your daddy issues." Shino shrugged the accusation off.

Todoroki thoroughly examined Shino for a moment before sighing, "Fine, I see no reason to doubt you, also I don't think you're gonna stop bestirring me about it if I don't tell you." Shino smiled, "But know this, what I'm about to tell you can't be heard by anybody."

"Sure thing. I'm great at keeping secrets."

Todoroki nodded and began telling his story and what he went through, from the reason of his birth, to his 'training' with his father, to his memories of his mother, all the while Shino listened with an straight face that perfectly hid how much his blood was boiling.

"So in conclusion, your father made you to achieve his dream for him, isolated you from the world and even your own family and kept abusing you and your mother under the name of training you. Did I get everything right?" Shino retold a shorter version of the story.

"That's about right. I had vowed to never use the fire side of my quirk as it was his power because I didn't wanna be like him. That was until I fought Midoriya today of course and he showed me that it was my power and that it doesn't make like him." Todoroki looked down on his left hand and his lip tugged upwards a little.

"I see. Good for you. You're actually pretty lucky to come across some like Midoriya to help you. Most people won't go out of their way to help others these days unless they're heroes." Shino looked down at the ground with a sad smile.

"Well you're also trying to help me, so I guess this kind of people isn't that rare after all. But you seem to be talking from experience, mind telling your story now." Todoroki asked as he put his hand on Shino's shoulder, he felt that since Shino wanted to help him with no ulterior motives he should help him too.

Shino was a little stunned by Todoroki's request but it was only fair to tell him since he had told Shino of his past but he wasn't gonna say everything, some things had to be kept secret. "Well…" before Shino could start the speaker in the room announced that the arena had been fixed and so Shino and Bakugo should head there for their match.

"I guess we'll have to continue this after the match." Shino stood up and headed to the door before stopping and turning around in Todoroki's direction.

"You said your mother was in a hospital, right? Did you visit her?"

"No, I didn't know if she would want to see me again after what she went through because of me." Todoroki's small smile faded and he looked down.

"Don't be silly Todoroki; a mother's love will never go away. What happened was the result of the pressure she felt and I'm sure she blames herself for it as much as you do." Shino was surprised when he learned who actually gave Todoroki his scar, but considering the psychological abuse she went through, he understood her situation, the one at fault was still Endeavour. Shino didn't hate many people, he always tried to be on good relations with people even ones he didn't like, but the few people that he hated, he hated with a passion, and Endeavour has just been added to that list.

"Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure that it would be a good idea to visit her?" Todoroki asked with hope starting to swill in his eyes along with some tears.

"Of course I'm sure! She would be very happy to see you and know you hold nothing against her. Now I must leave for my match, take care Todoroki, I will see you after the match." Shino waved to his friend before exiting the room and heading to the arena.

As Shino and Bakugo stood in the arena, Bakugo had his usual angry smirk while Shino had a smile that hid his worries. '_Okay calm down Shino, you have to do the best you can to keep the secret hidden._'

"I have been waiting for this for a while! First I'm gonna destroy you and then it's gonna be that icy-hot bastard's turn!" Bakugo exclaimed as mini-explosions.

"You keep talking big, but so far you haven't won against me in the previous competitions, so I would suggest you focus on fighting instead of shouting." Shino retorted.

"**Alright then! The second match of the semi-finals to decide who will face Todoroki in the finales will begin in 3…2…1…Start!**"

Bakugo charged at Shino but he wasn't as fast as Iida so Shino had time to turn part of the arena to gold and lunch his tendrils to intercept Bakugo.

"You think the same trick you used against those extras will work on me!" Bakugo used small explosions to push himself to the sides and maneuver around Shino's attacks.

"Then how about this!" Shino exclaimed as Bakugo was dodging one of the tendrils; a smaller tendril came out the bigger one and slammed into Bakugo's stomach knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the edge of the arena. Bakugo wasn't someone that would be defeated that easily as he quickly got up, angrier than before, and charged once again at Shino using his explosion to hover a little bit over the arena.

"I'm gonna make pay for this, you shitty Goldie lox!" Bakugo shouted.

"You'll have to reach me first." Shino moved his tendrils again to attack.

Bakugo didn't try to dodge however, instead he used more powerful explosions to destroy the tendrils. "You're just making it worse for yourself Bakugo!" the broken pieces started floating in mid-air then launched at Bakugo from behind as other tendrils were attacking from the front. However, Bakugo's smile didn't falter but widened.

'_Why's he smiling? He's planning something, I have to be careful._'

As Bakugo came closer, Shino lunched more tendrils at him but he was able to dodge each of them and destroyed the small tendrils that came from them but he still had the golden pieces at his tail. Suddenly, he made a big explosion that shot him in close quarters of Shino who, anticipating an attack, used the tendrils to block but Bakugo didn't attack instead he used an explosion to maneuver around the tendrils. Shino was occupied with blocking the potential attack that he forgot about the pieces that were behind Bakugo as these pieces collided with the tendrils destroying each other and giving Bakugo the opening to explode Shino from point blank range sending him flying to the other side of the arena.

Shino stood up and saw that the explosion burned most of the U.A shirt he was wearing but luckily wasn't strong enough to burn the long-sleeved shirt under it.

"I told you I'll make you pay for that!"

"Well you're clever, I'll give that Bakugo, but you haven't won yet and I don't plan on losing just yet." Shino hid how nervous he actually was, '_Shit! Another explosion like that and the shirt I'm wearing will be turned to ashes. I can't afford to be hit again._'

Shino noticed where Bakugo was standing and smile was drawn on his face, which irritated Bakugo.

"What are smiling at? Did the hit burn a fuse in your brain or something?" Bakugo wasn't an idiot and knew Shino was planning something but he was too late in noticing that he was surrounded by the pieces of Shino's tendrils as said pieces turned liquid and fused together around him incasing him in gold. Bakugo kept struggling to free himself but every time he blew part of the gold, Shino would just return it right away.

"Looks like it over Bakugo. In the end, you were more bark than bite. Now to finish this." Shino moved the trapped Bakugo towards the edge of the arena. As they got closer and closer to the edge, Bakugo became more desperate in his attempts to escape.

'_Well, that was easier than I thought. Let's just throw him out and be over with it._' Shino thought he had already won and made the mistake of grinning smugly at Bakugo. This made Bakugo's anger skyrocket.

"You think you've already won!" A vein popped on Bakugo's head and he made an explosion that freed his hands but Shino was quick to cover them back. However, he failed to notice that before gold encased them, Bakugo moved them so his palms were facing backwards. "DON'T FUCK WITH ME!" Bakugo sent a huge explosion that destroyed the gold encasing him and the shockwave sent it and Shino flying away.

Shino got up in time to see an enraged Bakugo charging at him very quickly. It was by pure instinct and thanks to his reflexes that Shino managed to cover his arms with what little gold was near him and put them in front of him to guard against the explosive attack. However, while he didn't receive that much damage, because the armor was a little thin, Shino's sleeves up to his elbows were now burned exposing his scars. He was quick to cover them back with gold but Bakugo had already caught a glance of them.

"What…What the hell was that?" the shock of seeing the arms calmed down Bakugo as he starred at the worried Shino demanding an answer as he panted heavily and his arms shook from his explosion.

"It's nothing! It must have been your imagination!" Shino was quick to deny as he stood up with shaky legs. '_God damn it! I got cocky again and I'm paying the price, it seems like that huge explosion exhausted Bakugo, he might be at his limit. Unfortunately, I'm close to mine too. If it was just the gold I would've been fine, but with the damage I received from Bakugo, I don't think I can take another direct hit._'

"Imagination my ass! I know what I saw! You're hiding something and I'm gonna find out what it is!" Bakugo pointed at Shino accusingly. '_Oh great! Now he's onto me, I have to make sure I don't expose anymore._' Shino thought as he pulled all the gold to himself covering his entire body in a golden armor.

By that time, Midoriya, Todoroki, and the others join the rest of their class in stands.

"Oh! Todoroki! How are your injuries?" Midoriya was the first to greet the dual-eyed boy as the two of them sat down.

"I should be the one asking that." Todoroki stated.

"Well I'm fine; Recovery Girl was able to heal me." Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Yeah but she told you she won't heal you anymore if you injure yourself, you have to be careful Deku." Uraraka reminded Midoriya of the elder woman's warning.

"Yeah, it's gonna be hard but I'll have to work on controlling my quirk."

"We'll help however we can Deku!" Uraraka cheered.

"Having friends sure looks nice." Todoroki commented.

"You're our friend too Todoroki!" Midoriya exclaimed with a smile.

Todoroki was little surprised but remembered Shino's words and a small smile was drawn on his face. "Yeah."

"Do you people mind! How many times are you gonna interrupt us huh? You think because it's between two of your class that gives you the right to keep talking?!" Monoma was the one interrupt the group again, but this time, it was Tokage that stopped him as Kendo was too invested in the fight to care.

"That's right! What happened in the fight so far?" Midoriya asked one of his classmates that stayed in the stands, and Yaoyorozu stepped to explain.

"Before you came, both Shino and Bakugo were trading blows with no clear winner, each time one gets close to winning, the other manages to even the field. Just now, Bakugo unleashed a huge explosion that seemed to do some damage to Shino and Shino seemed to have created an armor to protect his body." Midoriya thanked Yaoyorozu for the explanation as he turned to the arena to watch what will happen next.

"You think that's gonna stop me!" Bakugo charged again at Shino who charged too and the two met in the center of the arena as Bakugo lunch an explosion that Shino barely dodged and tried to deliver a punch to the explosive teen's face but he was able dodge as well and get behind Shino to lunch another explosion to his back. While the explosion damaged the armor, it didn't break it as the two fighter got some distance from each other.

'_This armor wasn't a bad idea, while I lose speed and reflexes, I gain a lot of defense and it doesn't consume that much stamina compared to the tendrils. In addition, since all my gold is near me, it's easier to control. How did not think of this before?!_' Shino analyzed his new creation considering the pros and cons and concluded that only the biggest explosion Bakugo had would be able to break it with this much gold in it. The question now was, could Bakugo use that move again?

This time it was Shino who charged at Bakugo with a flurry of punches and kicks but Bakugo managed dodge all of them and delivered an explosion to his chest that still wasn't strong enough to break the armor but pushed Shino back. '_He's just too good in a close combat fight while I'm not and with my lower speed, close combat was a bad decision._' Shino repaired his armor quickly.

"That armor of yours is really starting to piss me off!" Bakugo went on the offence using the same strategy he used against Kirishima as he swirled around Shino hitting him from all directions and looking for a weak spot in the armor. However, Shino wasn't like Kirishima, when he tried to punch Bakugo and failed, he immediately changed plans and sprouted tendrils form the armor in all directions and because Bakugo was too close he wasn't able to dodge and was hit square in the face sending him flying.

Bakugo got up with fury in his eyes and came running at Shino who shot tendrils from his armor to intercept the explosion user but they were much smaller and as such were easier to destroy. Seeing this, Shino tried to bait Bakugo into to wrap him again in gold but Bakugo saw through it and the second the gold started wrapping around him, he used an explosion to lunch himself upwards and with the position just right, he lunched another massive explosion in Shino's face. Bakugo grunted in pain from the backlash of the attack.

As the smoke cleared, Shino appeared on one knee and panting heavily but that wasn't what everyone was looking at. The explosion destroyed the upper part Shino's armor and burned his shirt exposing his scars to the world. Gasps of shock and horror could be heard throughout the stadium as they saw the mangled body. Parents covered their children's eyes and even adult looked away.

Shino's scars littered his body and ranged from too small-to-see to too-big-to-not see. They were made randomly and many of them crossed and intercepted each other with no pattern, the sole exception was a scar around his left arm just below his elbow. People seeing this couldn't tell which was more disturbing, the scars themselves or the contrast between the scarred parts and the normal parts being his head and hands that made it look like they didn't belong to each other.

In the 1-A seats, the classes reaction was similar to the rest of the audience if not stronger. "HOLY SHIT! What happened to him to make his body like this?!" Kaminari was the first to speak or like shout.

"To think he was hiding such a thing all along." Yaoyorozu said.

Midoriya and Uraraka couldn't even speak, too shocked and horrified but mostly concerned by their friend's appearance while Todoroki had widened eyes as he remembered Shino's expression when he talked to him.

Next to them in the 1-B seats, Kendo while still being horrified by the state of Shino's body was getting a major headache, it was like seeing his scars triggered something in her mind that was trapped deep in her subconscious and was now trying to get out. Pictures of a playground and an alleyway she didn't recognize flashed in her mind but she didn't know what all that meant.

"Big-sis are you okay ?!" Asked Ibara, a female student with long green vines for hair in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a headache." Kendo assured her friend.

"Do you need to go to Recovery Girl?"

"No, no need. Besides, I need to see this match." Kendo smiled to confirm her statement.

Back in the orphanage, Mother stood up shocked when the camera showed Shino. The children watching the match with her were getting worried for their big brother. They all knew about Shino's scars and saw them before but only Mother, Detective Hamura, and Recovery Girl knew how he got them.

"Is Big-bro gonna be ok?" the kids looked to their guardian for reassurance and she did her best to hide her concern and gave them confident smile, "Of course he will be, you know he too strong to lose."

"Yeah!" the kid's smiles came back as they started cheering for their big brother.

'_I hope you can survive this, Shino._' Mother prayed for her adapted son's well-being.

In the arena, Bakugo was still starring as Shino stood up and reformed his armor back but it seemed to be thinner than before.

"The fuck happened to you?" Bakugo once again demanded an answer from the other blond.

"That's irrelevant right now." Shino answer in serious tone, "What's important is that both of us are at our wits end, so how about we just end it this next attack." Shino took a fight stance.

Bakugo didn't say anything but his stunned expression changed to one of excitement as sparks flew from his palms.

The two opponent charged at the same time towards the center of the arena as both reeled their hands to attack the other. '_I don't have enough stamina to last much longer; I'll have to put everything I have in this attack!_' the thought on both of their minds as they closed on each other.

When the two reached the center, they unleased their attacks with Shino extending his fist to compensate of his lack of speed. As the attacks collided a massive explosion that engulfed the entire arena and stopped anybody from seeing the outcome.

As the smoke dissipated, everybody was waiting to see who won. To their surprise, they found the two blonds on their backs, not moving. Midnight hurried to check on the two students and found Bakugo unconscious but before she went to check on Shino, he raised his hand indicating that he was still conscious.

"**Looks like Bakugo is unable to continue the fight, so the winner is Shino!**"

"Wait!" Shino shouted for Midnight.

"**What is it Shino?**" Midnight was confused by the boy's sudden interruption.

"Can I have a word with you Midnight?"

"**Sure thing kid.**" Midnight waited for him to move but he didn't.

"Oh! Right, I can't use my legs because of overusing my quirk, so I'm unable to fight either." Shino explained.

"**So it's a tie then?**"

"Will yeah but I won't be able to move for a couple of hours so you could just give Bakugo the win."

Midnight was surprised by Shino's request, "**Are you sure Kid?**"

"It's not like I have a choice, as I said I won't be to move for hours so I won't be able to do tie breaker or fight in the finals anyway. Just don't tell Bakugo how he won; I like my head where it is thank you very much."

"**As you like. The winner of the second semi-final match who will face Todoroki in the finals is Bakugo!**"

"Oh yeah! Can I get a stretcher to get me to Recovery Girl?"

Midnight signaled for medical robots to come pick up Shino and Bakugo and take them to Recovery girl.

Shino was staying in bed in one of the infirmary rooms with the only other person being Recovery Girl after she finished heeling Bakugo who was staying in another room. Shino was wearing the shirt she had prepared for him.

"You know they'll ask a lot of questions right?" The elder woman asked concerned.

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I prepared for this." Shino informed her with a smile.

That's when the sound of many footsteps was heard in the hallway coming towards his room fast. The door was slammed open as almost all of class 1-A rushed inside.

"Shino! Are you ok?!" many voices talked at the same time and overwhelmed Shino as he reeled back in his bed.

"People! Calm down please! This no way to treat patients!" Shino calmed them down before sighing in relief.

That's when a knock on the door was heard and Kendo entered the room.

"I hope I'm not disturbing anything." She said looking at the group of students with questioning eyes looking at her.

"Not at all Kendo, you're not disturbing anything, unlike some other people who barged in here and almost broke the door." Shino looked at the students of his class accusingly as they all looked away to avoid his gaze.

"How are you feeling now Shino?" Kendo asked as she came closer to the bed.

"Well, aside from the heart attack I almost got seconds ago, I'm fine." Shino smirked as sweat went down class 1-A's collective necks.

"We get it, we're sorry okay. We were just worried." Ashido said as she dropped her hands in defeat. The rest of the class soon followed.

"And I appreciate the sentiment." Shino smiled happily knowing that there a lot of people besides his family that cared so much for him.

"Now that we're all calm and cool, Shino, mind explaining what was that. What happened to you to get all these scars?" Yaoyorozu reminded the rest of the other reason they came here.

"Actually, I came to ask you about that too Shino." Kendo chimed in.

Shino looked at all his friends and sighed, there was no escaping this now.

"Well when I was five years old, I had an accident."

"What kind of accident would do all that?" Kirishima asked.

"The kind that involves explosions and burning houses." Shino answered.

"You're house burned down? But how?" Uraraka asked with concern.

"I don't know, maybe a gas leak, maybe something else. The point is my house burned down and I barely escaped with my life." Shino looked down with sadness all over his face.

"I'm sorry to hear that Shino. It seems we've reminded you of unpleasant times." Yaoyorozu apologized.

"Yeah man it must have been ruff for you. But hey! You came out alive and that's what matters right." Kirishima tried to cheer Shino up.

"What did your parents do after that? Did you move to a new house or rebuild the old one?" Kendo asked.

"My parents?" at the mention of his parents, Shino looked away and tears swilled in his eyes, the memory too painful even after many years, which alarmed his friends. "You see, I was the only survivor of that incident. It all happened late at night, by the time anybody responded, it was all over. I don't even remember how I survived."

Shock could be seen on everybody's faces especially Kendo as guilt for asking such a question started eating at her. She didn't even want to think of that possibility but her question brought it out.

"I'm so sorry Shino! I didn't mean to remind you of such a thing." Kendo was quick to apologize.

"It's okay Kendo, it's not like you knew." Shino gave her a smile to show that he wasn't bothered but her guilt only grew.

"But what happened to you then? Where did you live? Where are you living?" Uraraka was the one to ask all these questions. The others now really concerned for their classmate also wanted to know.

"Since I had no living relatives I was an orphan but I was adapted by an old lady that owned an orphanage and have been living there with the other orphans ever since. You don't have to feel bad for me guys, I'm very happy with the family I have now. I have nine awesome siblings and a loving mother. There is nothing I could ask for." Shino smiled brightly to his friends. Everybody released a sigh of relief knowing their friend didn't suffer anymore after losing his parents.

At that moment the speaker announced that the final battle of the sports festival between Todoroki and Bakugo was about to begin.

"You should go guys, I still can't move my legs so I won't be able to come with you."

"Won't you be lonely Shino." Midoriya, who hasn't spoken since they came here finally asked.

"I will stay with him." Kendo volunteered to keep Shino company.

"Thanks Kendo. See Midoriya, I won't be alone. Besides, Recovery Girl is here." Shino reassured his friend as the rest of the class filtered through the door.

After everybody left, Shino turned to Kendo, "Are you sure you don't wanna watch from the stands?"

"I'd rather stay here with you. Besides, you'd probably die of boredom if I left you alone." Kendo answered honestly.

"What am I? A seven-year old kid that needs being taken care of?"

"Right now even I seven-year old would be easier." Kendo answered with a smirk.

"I take offence to that!" Shino pouted then started laughing and soon Kendo joined him as they sat beside each other talking and waiting for Shino to move again.

The match between Bakugo and Todoroki was surprisingly short. Todoroki didn't use his fire side in the fight even once despite Bakugo's attempts at forcing him. He seemed to be lost in thought and not really focusing on the match at all, which irritated Bakugo immensely. In the end, Bakugo won the fight but was clearly not satisfied.

By the time of the awarding ceremony, Shino had regained the ability to walk and since Midoriya was in no shape to fight for the third place, Shino took that place and received the bronze medal.

The ceremony itself was a spectacle with All-Might himself handing out the medals. However, Bakugo had to be restrained head-to-toe to stop him from lashing out as he kept refusing the medal and screaming that it meant nothing and was worthless. All-Might had to hang it in his mouth; the view was very amusing for Shino.

When Shino returned home he was tackled by his siblings causing him to fall on his back as they kept hugging him.

"Guys you're gonna ruin the stuff I brought for you, they weren't cheap you know." Despite that, he embraced the warm feeling of love and affection from his siblings.

"They can't help it, they missed you." Mother came out of the kitchen with a cake.

"What's that?" Shino asked

"This's a cake we all made to celebrate you getting the third place. Congratulations Shino." Mother smiled as the kids finally get off Shino and stood beside her.

"Thanks everyone, I'm so lucky to have an awesome family like this." It was now Shino's turn to hug his family including Mother.

Latter the family sat down eating the cake, talking, and playing as if they had no care of the world. As long as they were together, Shino had no reason to be sad ever.

**Thank you for reading.**

**AN: This is the longest chapter I've ever wrote and might be the longest I'll ever write, it might have became tedious to read through. I thought of splitting it to two halves but I've been waiting to get to this point of the story for a while and didn't want to wait another week to post. Sorry (Not really**


	12. Chapter 12

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**A/N: I have reached the time of the year that all students dread and fear, the finals week, and so regretfully, for the next two Sundays, there will be no new chapters. After these two weeks however, I will return to the normal schedule and maybe even speed it up since I will have all the time in the world, so who knows.**

**Oi Teme: Shino lost the use of his legs after overusing his quirk so he was unable to fight and the match ended in tie between him and Bakugo. In the case of tie, they do a tie-breaker match like what happened with Kirishima and Tetsutetsu (Seriously what was Horikoshi smoking when he made that name.), Shino just forfeited the tie-breaker match and so Bakugo qualified. Bakugo fighting Todoroki and winning because the latter didn't go all out is important, if Bakugo just lost he would've been angry at himself more than anything and wouldn't show it as much and wouldn't need to be restrained. Anyway, I'm happy that you voiced your concerns and hope everybody does the same in the future.**

**Chapter 12**

"It's time again brat!"

"No I'm not helping people, I won't do it!"

"Again with this shit? You still haven't realized that you don't get a say in this? You're just a pathetic little kid. It seems we must remind you of your true worth, hehehehehahahahaHAHAHAHAHA."

Shino woke up from another nightmare of times he would rather forget and never think about.

"I knew this would happen, but I still hate it." Shino sighed before getting of his bed to go to the bathroom, but before that he went to some shelves he had on one of his room's wall next to his desk.

The shelves were divided to two sections with the upper one having wooden figures and the lower housing various kinds of books.

Shino picked up one of the wooden figures. It was a figure of a sleeping cat and was clearly made with a different style from all the other figures who shared the same style, which meant they were made by the same person. He looked at it with a sad smile then returned it to its place and went about starting his day. The one good thing about these nightmares was that they woke him early.

After the sports festival, all students were given a three day holiday to relax and unwind after the festival. Class 1-A were somewhat disappointed by this, after seeing what the students from other classes could do, a fire was ignited in them to do better and be better and now they were told they couldn't. However, they understood that they shouldn't burn themselves out too quickly. Besides, some of them needed time to recover, both physically and mentally.

Shino was gonna use these three days to stay with his family. Life however had other plans and decided to give Shino a carrot instead of a stick like usual. After eating breakfast and sending his siblings to school, he sat down to watch TV with mother when his phone rang. Picking it up, he found a message from Kendo.

Kendo: Good morning Shino, how are doing?

Shino: Fine how about you?

Kendo: I'm fine, say are you free today?

Shino looked at the message in confusion for a moment then replied.

Shino: Yeah I was planning on staying home all day today.

No reply came for a few moments and Shino was about to put the phone down when it rang again.

Kendo: I was thinking we could hang out today. You know, it would be more refreshing to go outside instead staying indoors the whole day.

"You should say yes." Came a voice behind Shino scaring him, it was mother with a smirk on her face.

"How long were you behind me?"

"Long enough, what's gonna be your response then?"

"Of course I'm gonna say yes!" Shino said as if there was no reason to even think about it.

"It would also be a good opportunity to confess." Mother said with a knowing smile.

"Confess? How am I supposed to know when to confess let alone how?" Shino received a punch on the head from Mother.

"You're overthinking this you idiot! Just relax and try to spend some time with her, when the right time comes, you'll know." Mother instructed Shino in a scolding tone.

"You didn't have to punch me to say that!" Shino was still rubbing his head where he was hit.

"Quit being a baby, I didn't hit you that hard." Mother scoffed and starts walking away.

"That's not the point!"

Mother turned around with a serious look. "You shouldn't let her wait much longer. She must've gathered all her courage to ask that question, delaying the answer would be torture."

Shino grabbed the phone, "I was gonna answer but you distracted me."

On Kendo's side, she had been staring at the phone ever since she sent the message asking Shino out. "Was I too forward? Was he weirded out by the sudden question? Oh way did I do that? It's all Setsuna's fault!" Kendo's mind went back to the previous day after the end of the sports festival, when the students returned to their classes to pick up their things. Her friend had asked her talk in private.

**Flashback:**

"You like him don't you big-sis?" Tokage asked with a smirk and Kendo's face became crimson as she put her hands on Tokage's mouth and looked around her to make sure no one heard what her friend just said. Luckily, no one did.

Kendo sighed in relief then turned to a still smirking Tokage "W-What are you taking about Setsuna?"

"That boy, Shino, you like him right? And before you even try to deny it," Tokage raised her hand in front of Kendo, "I already saw how you look at him okay, there is no use making excuses."

Kendo tried to think of an excuse anyway but her brain came empty so she sighed in defeat.

"Fine you win Setsuna, I like him, but what do you gain from knowing this?" Kendo asked.

"I already knew, I just wanted you to say it."

Kendo was now confused, "But why?"

"Because it will make helping you get him easier of course." Tokage shrugged as if it was obvious.

"Help me d-do what?!" Kendo could feel this will be bad.

"Help you get him, I mean to confess to him." Kendo's face was somehow getting even redder while she was burning from embarrassment.

"H-H-How do you even know t-t-that he would reciprocate my feelings. He might not feel the same and then it would be weird between us and I don't want that."

"Are you kidding me big-sis? Of course he likes you!"

"And how do you know that?" Kendo questioned with a bit of hope in her voice.

"I've seen him look at you with the same looks you gave him. And he's been cooking for you and teaching you how to cook with nothing in return, if these aren't evidence then I don't know what is."

"Wait! How did you know about the cooking thing?" Kendo focus on the last part of Tokage's explanation with anger at what it meant.

"I've been watching the two of you eating alone for the past couple of weeks, and I gotta say you looked cute together." Tokage barely finished her sentence to dodge a punch form an angry Kendo.

"You did what?!"

"It was to make sure you were safe! It was for your sake big-sis!" Tokage raised her hands in front of her defensively.

"For my sake?! Yeah right!" Kendo didn't buy Tokage's excuses.

"That's not important right now! What's important is how you're gonna ask him out." This stopped Kendo from attacking Tokage as the latter sighed in relief at her life being spared.

"Isn't the boy who should ask the girl out?" While Kendo didn't really care for romantic shows, she had seen some and in all of the ones she saw, that was the case.

"You're so old fashioned, it's not always the case. Sometimes the boy is shy and can't take the initiative or the girl is the one with the crush and wants to impress the boy. Other times, the boy simply doesn't have any experience when it comes to romance and doesn't know how to ask the girl out, and Shino is really open with his feelings so the fact that he didn't ask you out yet must be due to that."

"It's not like I have any experience either." Kendo reminded Tokage.

"Yeah but you have me to guide you." Tokage said pointing at herself in confidence.

"So you're saying I should ask him out, then what?"

"You have fun together, what you don't know is that most romances truly blossom on the date as both of you observe each other act outside the school. In the end when you feel it's the right time, you confess."

"And how am I supposed to know when it's the right time?"

"Don't worry, you'll feel it, and when it happens, don't hesitate, the more time you take to get out your feelings, the harder it will become until the moment passes and you lose your chance."

"This better work, or you'll pay dearly Satsuna." Kendo threated

"Have some faith in me big-sis."

**End of Flashback:**

Kendo was laying on her bed still staring at her phone waiting for Shino's response. Right when she was about to give up and put the phone down, it rang with a new message from Shino. Kendo opened the phone quickly to read it.

Shino: Yeah sure I'm in. Sorry for the late response by the way, some things happened that distracted me.

Kendo: No, no problems at all, I'm glad you agreed.

Shino and Kendo then settled on the time and place to meet and all what was left was getting ready.

They had agreed to meet at the train station at a stop in between their houses, then walk together from there, they would meet up at 4:30PM. Looking at the clock on his wall, Shino calculated how much time he needed to get ready and when to be on his way then leapt into action.

It was now 4:35PM and Shino was standing in the station waiting for Kendo to arrive, he was wearing a red long-sleeved shirt underneath a sleeveless jacket, brown baggy pants, and black shoes.

An announcement was made that the train Kendo was supposed to be on was delayed which worried Shino a bit but he knew Kendo could take care of herself just fine and used that to push his worries down. Five minutes later, the train arrived and Shino kept scouting trying to catch Kendo among the crowd.

Finally, he spotted her but as soon as he did he also noticed her outfit. She was wearing a milky-white dress that reached just below her ankles underneath a leather black jacket and black boots. His heart started pumping fast, this was the first time he saw her in something other than school uniform or P.E clothes, '_Oh MY God! She looks beautiful in that dress._' He didn't know whether it was because it was kendo who's wearing it or because it suited her personality so well, strong and determined but also sweet and caring, either way he loved the way she looked.

"Sorry I'm late Shino, the train had some technical problems and they delayed it." Kendo apologized.

"You don't need to apologize Kendo, it wasn't your fault. Anyway, you look amazing in that dress." Shino's compliment turned Kendo red with embarrassment and the date hasn't even began yet.

'_Setsuna was right, he's very open with his feelings, I don't know how much I can take before I burn out._' Despite that, Kendo was happy. '_But it does feel nice to be complimented._' She had thought hard about what she would wear and it seems her choice was right.

"T-Thanks, well then let's go Shino, we don't want to waste more time." Kendo lead the way with Shino walking beside her.

"So where are we going first?" Shino had asked the question before but Kendo said it was a secret.

"You'll see." Kendo answered with smile.

After walking for some time, they arrived at what looked like an ice-skating ring. "We're going ice-skating?" Shino was surprised Kendo even knew of such a place.

"You don't like it?" Kendo was starting to feel discouraged, was her plan gonna fall from the beginning? She really wasn't good with the whole planning a date thing.

Sensing the girl's feelings Shino had to clarify, "No, no it's not that I don't like it, I was just surprised, I never did ice-skating before, but I'm all for learning new things." He gave her a thumbs up.

"Don't worry I'm sure you'll love it!" Kendo's excitement returned in full swing and Shino couldn't help but get swept by it as she marched and he followed.

Ice-skating was surprisingly difficult for Shino, for some reason he couldn't keep his balance for more than fifteen seconds before falling on his butt. Meanwhile, Kendo was swiftly coursing through the ring while doing some tricks like move backwards and some spins which earned her a great deal of applause from the people in the ring.

As Shino once again attempted to stand up again just to fall again, Kendo came to his side.

"Are you okay Shino? We could always leave if you're uncomfortable." Kendo asked concerned that Shino was forcing himself so she won't feel bad.

"I'm fine Kendo you don't have to worry. Despite how it looks, I'm actually having fun." Shino wasn't lying, even though he couldn't move two steps without his butt slamming the ice, the prospect of learning something new was exciting to him, and he liked seeing Kendo's moves. "Besides, I'm a student at the world's top school for heroes, some ice isn't gonna defeat me."

Seeing Shino's determination, Kendo smiled and extended her hand to help him up. "Well let me help you in your quest."

"Sure, your help would be much appreciated." Shino took her hand and was finally able to stand up straight. However, Kendo didn't let go afterwards, instead she got beside Shino and placed her other hand on his back to support him and prevent him from falling as much as possible.

"We'll start with the basics, you keep trying to run when you don't know how to walk. You have to take it slow." Kendo instructed and Shino listened.

"Yes teacher Kendo." Shino said in a joking tone.

After a few tries and instruction from Kendo, and a few falls, Shino finally managed to move around freely in the ring.

"You're a fast learner." Kendo complemented her student.

"Well, I had a great teacher." At that moment, Kendo realized how close she was to Shino and that she was holding his hand. If she touched the ice right now, it would've melted with how hot her body became. She was so lost inside her head that she almost tripped and fell but Shino caught her.

"Are you ok? I didn't think you would fall" Shino asked concerned.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I guess everyone can make mistakes." Kendo quickly stood up straight and presumed skating.

'_What was I thinking?! How did I not notice how close we were?!_' Kendo kept chastising herself but she couldn't deny that it felt nice. '_I wonder if that what it would feel like if we became a couple._'

Shino was staring at Kendo as she skated away, '_She looked distracted, and her face was all red, she kinda looked embarrassed, but why would she..._' then it hit Shino, he realized what was happening and his head started getting ideas but he shook them off quickly, '_Don't get a head of yourself Shino, that's a normal reaction to the situation, it's not a proof of anything._' Although he kept telling himself that, he couldn't stop the huge smile that was stuck on his face.

After spending some more time on the ice, the two decided they had enough and exited after returning the skating equipment they were using.

"What's our next stop now?" Shino asked still full of excitement from all the skating.

"Well, we could watch a movie. There is cinema hall not too far from here." Kendo suggested.

"That's a good idea, do you have a particular movie in mind?"

"I thought we could decide on that together."

"Let's see what's available and choose out of those." Shino suggested.

Seeing the list of movies the cinema had to offer, they settled on an action movie. The movie's story was about a corrupt cop with a quirk that allowed him to summon any type of ammo from his hands, he got tired of the doing shady business and wanted to turn himself in but his associates didn't like the idea and feared he would drag them with him, and so they decided to get rid of him before that happens and it becomes a race as he tries to confess his crimes to some of the higher ups only to discover that the corruption ran deeper than he imagined. The movie wasn't anything special or big, but it was good entertainment and both Kendo and Shino liked the idea of it.

"This movie was awesome! When it turned out the main character's brother was with the bad guys all along and was pretending to help him just to set a trap, I lost it!" Shino exclaimed as they were walking out of the hall into the streets.

"And you started yelling which almost got us kicked out." Kendo reminded him of the ruckus he caused. Thankfully after apologizing and promising not repeat it, the guards let them off easy.

"Sorry about that, but I couldn't help it! To be betrayed by someone as close to you as your brother, that would hurt anyone no matter how strong they may be."

"It did serve as a good plot twist though, the entire time we thought he was on our side only for him to stab us in the back like that was unexpected. Also, the scene when the hero had to kill his brother was really sad."

"I know right! I almost cried."

A child's cry was suddenly heard and the two heroes-in-training immediately ran towards it to see if someone needed help. Instead they found a little girl crying while her mother was trying to calm her down.

"Hi mam, what happened?" Kendo was the first to ask.

"Hello, it's nothing really, she just lost her balloon and it got stuck in that high tree." The woman pointed to the top of a really large tree and indeed, a balloon was visible but was stuck too high for anyone to try climbing to get it, not that anyone actually bothered to try.

Shino knelt down so he can be at eye level with the little girl. "Hey there princess, you want your balloon?" he asked in calming voice and the girl nodded in response but still crying.

"I know someone who can get your balloon for you, but you have to stop crying first." The girl looked to Shino with tears in her eyes, "R-Really?" both Kendo and the girl's mother looked at him questionably wondering what he was planning.

"Yeah, but you have to stop crying and smile before I can call him."

"O-Ok." The girl whipped her tear and gave a small smile.

"Good girl, now look here." Shino raised his hand to his chest level and the girl watched as a golden winged horse, a Pegasus, emerged from his hand.

"It's flying pony!" The girl exclaimed excitedly admiring the creature as it moved like it was real. Of course, she had no way of knowing it was fake.

"That's right! My friend here will get your balloon, but you have to ask him politely." Shino instructed and the girl nodded in response.

"Mr. Pony, Can you get me my balloon please?" The girl watched in awe as the Pegasus bowed to her before taking to the air towards the balloon, garbing it by the string and pulling it back to her.

"Now, what do you tell someone after they helped you?" Shino asked the little girl.

"Thank you!" The girl jumped with happiness at getting her balloon and went to her mother with a big smile and her mother returned with another.

The woman thanked Shino as she and her daughter walked into the crowd.

"You could've just brought her balloon and left. Why did you all of that?" Kendo asked curiously.

"It's not enough to just save people, you have to inspire them and make them feel safe if you truly want to be a hero. And children must be taught manners from an early age." Shino answered.

Kendo was little surprised that Shino thought so deeply in something as simple as getting a balloon and couldn't help but be inspired herself and her feelings for the golden boy grew.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a grumbling sound coming from Shino.

"Looks all that exercising made me hungry. How about we go somewhere to eat?"

Kendo put her hands on her hips, "Sure thing, I know a café nearby that has some good food."

Arriving at the location, the café was a small building with a neon sign as the only way to identify it from the other much bigger buildings surrounding it.

The inside however, could trick people into thinking they were in a different time period. It had a very classy atmosphere with the tables and chairs looking like they came from the mansion of a very rich family and looking like antiques, the staff all wore traditional butler and maid outfits and the food looked like it was made by master chef. There were some people were sitting around but the place was mostly empty.

"Wow! This place looks neat!" Shino was admiring the statuses that were spread around the place.

"Yeah, for a small café they really do well for themselves, and they have many loyal regulars." Kendo commented as they chose their seats.

Not long after, a maid came handing both of them a menu then left them to choose their meals.

"Since you came here before, what do you recommend?" Shino asked Kendo.

"Actually I didn't come here before, but a friend recommended it for me. They also said that this café's specialty was the lamp meat."

"Well the lamp meat it is."

The two teens both ordered the lamp meat and the meal came in a few seconds afterwards.

"This tastes amazing! The meat is really well-done and easy to chew." Shino exclaimed as he took another bite. "It's really refreshing to eat outside once in a while."

"Yeah, it's good, but I prefer your cooking more." Kendo said with a bit of embarrassment.

"Aww, thanks Kendo it means a lot coming from you. You've been improving your cooking as well, I think your level is pretty good right now, if I don't up my game you might surpass me in no time."

"You're exaggerating now Shino, there is no way I'll be as good as you when it comes to cooking."

"Not with that attitude you won't, don't sell yourself short Kendo, you're amazing and have a lot of potential." The last part almost gave Kendo a heart attack. But after she managed to compose herself she felt something new as she looked into Shino's blue eyes that looked to be lost in thought. Then Tokage's words came to her mind and right there and then she knew this was the moment she's been waiting for, the time to confess her feelings to Shino.

Unknown to her, Shino was thinking the exact same thing. Their eyes locked on each other as their mouths move together.

"I have something to say to you."

"I have something to say to you."

Their eyes widened at the sudden synchronization.

"You go first."

"No you should start."

"I insist you must go first."

"You started first you should go first."

This continued for a while, until Shino broke the cycle.

"How about we talk at the same time and get it over with."

"Sure why not." Kendo agreed because it would help her say it easier and if worse comes to pass, she could claim it was something else.

"Okay on the count to three."

"Three…Two…One."

"I like you."

"I like you."

Kendo had closed her eyes while saying it but upon hearing the same phrase in Shino's voice, her eyes shot open to meet Shino's eyes that had the same disbelief as hers. Time seemed to slow down for the two of them as they both stared at each other not moving.

"D-Did you just say like me?" Shino was the first to break the silence and for the first time Kendo heard him stutter.

"Y-Yes I did, and you s-said the same thing right?" Kendo both answered the question and asked one of her own, her face now burning bright red.

"Yes, yes I did. I'm not dreaming right? I'm not gonna suddenly wake up and discover it was all of my imagination?" Shino went to pinch his cheeks but Kendo's hand stopped him and lowered them, putting them on the table with her hands on top.

"I's not a dream, and if it was, then I don't wanna ever wake up." Kendo had tears gathering at the edges of her eyes, all the thinking and wishing was not for waste, her first love had just confessed that he too liked her. At that moment, she was beyond happy, she felt like she owned the world in her hands.

Shino's eyes began gathering tears of their own, in his hands, right now, he held Kendo's hands, while he couldn't feel them, but he could feel their weight, their presence and helped bring back to earth because he was over the moon with happiness. In all his life, he had never felt like this, was that why mother supported this so much? Was that how people in romantic movies would feel? If that was the case, then he wanted to feel like this all the time.

"I'm so happy right now."

"I feel the same. I was so afraid wouldn't reciprocate my feelings and then it would become very awkward between us and I didn't want that." Now that the weight of that decision was lifted of her heart, she was free to voice her fears to her partner.

"Yeah I was afraid too, but I know we would have been friends even if we didn't have feelings for each other." Shino comforted his new girlfriend. "But I have a question, what made you ask me out?" Shino was curious as to what brought upon this fortune.

"Well it was Satsuna's idea. To be honest, I was skeptical but here we are."

"Tokage? How did she know you liked me?"

"Well it turned out she was watching us when we ate together."

"What!" Shino stood up but his loud shout caught the attention of the few people that were in the café so he quickly sat down.

"Since when?" He asked in a low voice.

"Apparently, since the beginning." Kendo was said with a defeated expression.

"And here I was starting to be grateful, then it turns out she was stalking us."

"To be fair, if she didn't, we would've probably never confessed, so it wasn't all bad."

"True. Nonetheless, we'll have to be careful on our future dates."

"Yeah."

What neither of them of them knew was that someone had their eye and ear on them.

After paying for their meals, the newly formed couple went for on a walk around the area, night had already fallen and the city lights were shining bright and soon the streets were crowded with people making it really difficult to walk around. As they were walking beside a park, the lights of the walkthrough suddenly ignited as if inviting them to enter. Wanting some quite time, they accepted the invitation.

Walking through the park, Shino and Kendo kept their hands entangled together and would from time to time look into each other's eyes with smiles on their faces. However, Kendo's smile fell as she looked ahead.

"Shino can I ask you something?" Kendo's voice carried a tone of doubt.

"Sure, anything." Shino answered as they stopped walking and stood in front of each other.

Kendo looked Shino in the eye and asked.

"What do you like about me exactly?" The question surprised Shino but he didn't break eye contact.

"What brought such a question?" Shino could see doubt in Kendo's eyes, doubt of herself, and he hated seeing that.

"It's just that in middle school, people would tell me I was too strong for a girl, that boys didn't like that kind of thing, I never listened to them and my parents would always tell me to ignore it which I tried but these comments were stuck in my head and whenever girls would talk about dating or boys they would always exclude me. So when Satsuna told me you liked me, I couldn't help but wonder why." Kendo looked down at her feet.

"Ok first of all, your strength both physical and in character was the thing that attracted me to you in the first place. Second of all, who cares what some dump girls say, they were probably jealous of you and tried to damage your self-esteem because they knew they were no match for you." Shino raised Kendo's head so her eyes would meet his again. "You're an amazing girl Kendo, you're strong and reliable and at the same time you're caring and understanding of people around you. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise you understand."

Tears gathered once again at Kendo's eyes and she leapt at Shino hugging him tightly, "Thank you."

Shino hugged back, "Anytime, I'm always here when you need me." They stayed like that for while then finally broke off and continued they're walk admiring the clear sky and the stars that graced it.

After walking back to the train station they both went their separate way but not before hugging once again and saying their goodbyes.

When Shino returned home he told Mother about the day and what happened, to say the old woman was happy for her adapted son would be an understatement. When Shino entered his room his happiness caught with him once again and he started jumping in excitement and almost knocked some of his figures of the shelves. He then opened his phone and sent a message to Kendo to check if she arrived yet. This then evolved into them talking and messaging for the entire night talking about all sorts of things. Since they had no school the next day, they had the freedom of staying awake all night and they were gonna use it.

This day was one of the happiest days in both of their lives, a day they would always remember fondly. Neither of them knew what the future held for them.

**Thank you for reading.**


	13. Chapter 13

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**I have returned from the academic hell that is the finals and now am back to writing. Thank you all for your patience and those who joined during that time, welcome and I hope you enjoy. **

**Chapter 13**

While the first day was dedicated to his time with his family and Kendo, the next two days Shino spent training, but that didn't mean he couldn't spend time with Kendo too. He wanted train his usage of the golden armor and get some close-combat training to increase his movement and reaction speed in the armor, so he figured martial arts were the way to go, and who's better at martial arts then his girlfriend.

The two of them were currently at a special gym where people could train their quirks freely. These facilities were made mostly for heroes who wanted to train while not on duty but were accessible for ordinary civilians too. Of course such facilities were heavily regulated, the owner must first get a certificate that proves the ministry agrees to the construction and the building must go through a detailed check-up to make sure that it was well equipped to handle the many quirks that would be in use along with regular surprise check-ups. An age restriction is also in place preventing any children from using the gym, and no training session could be done unless a staff member was present and all staff had to prove their ability to subdue anyone who breaks the regulations and deal with out of control quirks. Shino and Kendo were in such facility with him clad in his golden armor and she with her enlarged hands locked in combat having booked the place for two hours and were half way through. **(AN: this place is obviously not in the cannon, it was inspired by an IzuMina fic called "Chapter 10: Tears of Acid", it's a really good story that I recommend to everyone.)**

Kendo was charging at Shino ready to deliver a punch, "Come at me biker-nerd!" the nickname caused the girl to miss her strike because of her embarrassment with Shino easily dodging and going for a right hook. However, Kendo recovered quickly and grabbed his arm flipping him over her shoulder and slamming him on the ground creating a small crater.

"Damn it! I thought I had this time!" Shino shouted in frustration as he laid on the ground defeated.

"You're still years away from defeating me in martial arts," Kendo said with a smug grin "although you're getting better." She extended a hand to help him up.

"Getting better at what? Getting my ass handed to me repeatedly? This is the twelfth loss and I haven't won a single match yet." Shino complained about his inability to win as he accepted Kendo's helping hand and got up then removed the armor as to not waste stamina.

"As I said you're still a novice when it comes to martial arts, but your reactions have become faster since we started if by a little bit." Kendo pointed out.

"Why thank you, biker-nerd." Shino said jokingly returning Kendo to her flustered state but this time it was mixed with a bit of anger.

"I said don't call me a biker-nerd! I am not a nerd!" Kendo delivered a powerful punch to Shino's head knocking him over.

"OW! I was just kidding, you didn't have to punch me this hard!" Shino rubbed his head with a pained expression.

"That's what you get for calling me a nerd." Kendo crossed her arms and looked guilt-free about it.

"Then what do call a person who know way too much about motorcycles to the point of memorizing a whole catalog with all the specifications inside and that dreams of one day building her own motorcycle?" Shino asked accusingly.

"A normal person with a hoppy." Kendo answered with a straight face.

"A very time-consuming hoppy." Shino commented.

"What are you? MY dad? Also, I don't wanna hear that from the guy who spends days on end making wooden figures by people's request." Kendo poked Shino's chest.

"At least I get paid for it." Shino sighed, he could see this was going nowhere, "Look I'm sorry, I won't call you biker-nerd again. In all honesty, your knowledge in mechanical engineering is quite impressive."

Seeing Shino apologize, Kendo felt she had to as well, "Thank you, and I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have gotten angry just because of a name, I knew you meant nothing by it."

"No problem, how about we take a little break."

"Yeah, good idea." The two headed to row of chairs on one of the sides of the room and sat down allowing their stiff muscles to finally relax.

"But I'm impressed you understood some of my blueprints on the engine." Kendo had shown Shino photos of the blueprints and went on trying to explain it in the simplest terms possible. To her surprise, Shino seemed to have some knowledge on the machine and was able to somewhat keep up with her explanation.

"Well, one of my regular clients owns a motorcycle shop and garage. He's an old man with a bit of an anger issue but he is really kind once you get to know him. He also likes to talk about motorcycles whenever I deliver to him, some the information just got stuck in my head after hearing it for so much. Nothing big though, just the basics."

"I've been meaning to ask you, how did you start making wooden figures and selling them?" Kendo asked with a curious expression.

"Well it started as a hoppy I picked up from my mom, it was something to pass time with. But then my siblings came along and while as an orphanage we get money from the government, it's all meant to buy life necessities like food and basic clothing. I didn't want them to feel different from other children their age, so I got the idea to sell some of my work in hopes of getting enough money to give them whatever they wanted. Surprisingly, people liked my work a lot and I got many requests and it just went on from there."

"That's so sweet of you." Kendo was getting more and more impressed by Shino's honesty and will to help out people around him to the best of his ability without being asked. She could see the hero he could become and silently vowed to work harder to be able stand by his side.

"Thanks, it also works as training for using my quirk."

"Training? How is making wooden figures training?"

"Making these figures requires a steady hand and attention to detail as well as dexterity and precision. Since I have to use my quirk to move my fingers, it allows me to have a feel for the distance I need to move and to make the most out of each move while expending as little stamina as possible. It also helps me with coordination when controlling many things. But enough about me, tell me why do love motorcycles so much."

Now it was Kendo's turn to talk about herself, "my dad and I love watching old movies, ones that were made before the quirk era. There is trope that I always loved to see, where a gang of friends each with their own motorcycle would travel that world together. They always looked cool in their customized motorcycles and leather jackets. They had this aura of freedom to them, like they didn't care for society's norms and did what they did because they felt it was right, and I always wanted to do that. Soon enough I started looking the different types of motorcycles and from there I just dove deeper and deeper until I decided to make my own instead just buying one so it would be a one of a kind, but I had to learn about how they worked to do that and so here we are." After finishing her story, Kendo looked to her side to gauge Shino's reaction, only to find a big smile on his face and a look of admiration in his eyes that made her heart pump so fast it could explode, this showed by her face turning red.

"What's with that expression?"

"I couldn't help but admire your determination and drive. You turned a simple admiration into a life goal and worked hard on it. That's impressive."

"Thanks." At that moment a siren rang announcing that their training session ended.

"Well, looks like we're out of time." Shino said standing at the exit of the gym, disappointed in how time moves fast when they enjoy it.

"Let's come back tomorrow to continue then, and maybe next time we could grab a bite afterwards." Kendo suggested.

"Sounds good to me. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Of course." The two went their separate ways, the problem with the place was that its location forced them to take different routes to get to their respective homes, but it wasn't like they wouldn't see each other for a long time, so they didn't complain.

The third day was almost identical to the previous day, but without the arguing and with the added bonus of eating outside again. It however had to end quicker since they were returning to school the next day and wanted a good night's sleep. Shino also received a surprise visit from Detective Hamura who went on a tangent worrying over him and asking how he was feeling and how did people react as well as congratulating him on placing third in the festival. The man was just too emotional but Shino appreciated his sincerity and Kindness.

The next day, Shino woke up from his sleep feeling refreshed and energized and with a smile on his face. Life was finally looking up for him, he entered U.A., he met many friends that he had grown to treasure, he met an amazing girl that stole his heart and he confessed to her and she accepted and their a couple now, not to mention his amazing family. He turned to the photo on his desk and for the first time he could look at it with a happy smile on his face.

He got up from his bed and started his daily routine preparing to return to school and his path to heroism and redemption. As he was making breakfast, his phone rang. Picking it up he saw a message from Kendo.

Kendo: Don't bring lunch and we'll meet in the cafeteria.

Shino: Okay.

He didn't question her since it was obvious she wanted it to be a surprise and continued his work.

On his way to school, Shino noticed that some of the people in the train were giving him weird looks, he had an idea of why but he didn't mind, he was gonna be a hero and help them with a smile and make them feel safe, that he promised himself. Nevertheless, he kinda felt sad.

Reaching his classroom, he was one of the first students to arrive. The ones that were already there were Iida, Yaoyorozu and Todoroki.

Shino greeted his classmates but only Todoroki and Yaoyorozu returned the greeting while Iida just stared absent-minded as if he didn't even register his presence. He had a look that Shino didn't like, it was a look of pure rage and hatred mixed with sadness.

It was now public knowledge to the point that even Shino who never watched the new knew that the hero Ingenium also known as Tensei Iida, Tenya Iida's older brother, has fallen victim to the newest threat to society. A serial killer with an unknown quirk called Stain, the villain targeted heroes killing them without mercy and with no clear indication of why or how he chooses his victims aside from them being heroes and so the new dubbed him the hero killer. Fortunately, Ingenium had managed to survive his encounter with the villain. However, he did not escape unharmed, the injuries he received from Stain had stolen his ability to walk with no way to know if it'll ever return, effectively ending his hero career.

Knowing how hard it can be to lose your family, Shino understood Iida's feelings but also knew what these feeling would make Iida do if left alone. Before he got up to talk to him, Midoriya and Uraraka entered the class and were met with the same response from Iida when they greeted him.

Getting worried, Shino, Midoriya, and Uraraka gathered around Shino's desk to talk.

"Iida looks so angry and sad, can't we do something to help him?" Uraraka asked worried for her friend as they all looked at him.

"He didn't even acknowledge us." Midoriya said frustrated.

"He's been like that since I arrived." Todoroki joined the three friends.

Before they could continue, the sound of explosions could be heard in the hallway and a very angry Bakugo slammed the door open. He started looking around the classroom until he locked eyes on Shino and his scowl deepened and he charged at him full force.

'_Shit, he must have discovered I forfeited our match._' Shino raised his hands to defend himself.

"Shitty Goldie lox! How dare you forfeit the match! Isn't it enough that the hot 'n cold bastard didn't fight me seriously! What's the point of the fucking winning like that?!" Bakugo kept yelling in Shino's face until he got annoyed and pushed back.

"That's your damn problem Bakugo! I had no choice, I couldn't even use my legs for god's sake! What did you expect me to do?"

"We're having a rematch you hear me!" Bakugo then turned to Todoroki, "And after I beat him, you're next!" the boy in question simply gave him an indifferent look.

"C-Calm down Kacchan, y-you know you can't just do that." Midoriya tried to calm his former best-friend but it only made him angrier.

"Shut the fuck up Deku! Don't you dare tell me what to do!" By now, many of the students had arrived and were watching the top of the class loudly arguing.

"No Bakugo, Midoriya is right. Unless it's in a class exercise, neither of us can fight you, not that I want to anyway, I have better things to do with my life. So just return to your seat, Mr. Aizawa is probably on his to class." Shino said firmly while looking Bakugo in the eye. Bakugo remembered what happens when Aizawa is angry and opted to return to his seat but before a scoff to show his displeasure.

With the atmosphere finally calming down, the group returned to their original problem.

"Iida didn't even react to what was happening, it's like he's in a different world. We can't leave him like this." Uraraka said as she looked at the boy with saddened and worried eyes.

"I think the first thing we should do is try talking to him and see where it goes from there." Shino suggested and the others nodded in agreement. They all moved to Iida's desk with Midoriya making first contact placing his hand on Iida's shoulder only for the blue-haired boy to knock his hand and looked both angry and surprised which caught his friends off-guard. When he realized his mistake, he looked down while adjusting his glasses.

"I am sorry Midoriya, I was lost in thought and you surprised me." Iida apologized with a voice that told them that despite being genially sorry, he was a bit irritated that they interrupted his thought process.

"Are you okay Iida? You've been spacing out since the start of the day." Todoroki of all people asked.

"Yes I'm fine, thank you for your concern Todoroki." Iida answered quickly, clearly wanting to end the conversation.

"Is it about your brother? If there's anything we can do to help please tell us." Iida visibly flinched at the mention of his brother but managed to maintain a straight face although his eyes showed his anger rising.

"Yeah Iida we're here for you." Iida's eyes showed he's grateful but his anger prevented him from opening up to his friends. Shino decides to take drastic measures to make sure his friend doesn't do anything rash, and what better way to deal with anger than to direct it at something.

'_I know I'm gonna hate this but it has to be done._'

"To be honest, your brother was lucky to survive his encounter with the hero killer." The class didn't get a chance to react to Shino's comment before Iida punched him hard in the face sending him to the end of the classroom. Whatever Iida was using to hold back his anger was broken and he didn't care that others were watching his display of emotion. Even Bakugo was surprised.

"HE WAS LUCKY?! MY BROTHER LOST HIS ABILITY TO WALK! HE CAN'T BE A HERO ANYMORE AND YOU SAY HE'S LUCKY?! HE WAS MY IDOL, HE WAS WHAT I ASPIRED TO BECOME. DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT WAS SEEING HIM ON THAT HOSPITAL BED WITH THE MACHINES HOOKED TO HIM? NOT KNOWING IF HE'LL SURVIVE." Iida stared at Shino as he got up with an intense angry look in his eyes only for Shino give him an equally intense look though his look didn't have any feeling behind it.

"It's still better than seeing him lifeless and cold body, realizing you'll never see him again no matter hard you wish for it." Shino talked with chilling calmness that sent shivers down many of the students as they knew he was talking from experience. But Iida didn't. And no knew how much pain Shino felt saying those words and the memories that came with them.

"WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW?" The question remained unanswered because at that moment, Aizawa entered the class as all eyes now shifted to him in hopes he would break the fight that was going on.

He looked at his students with suspicion before ordering them to take their seats immediately which they all complied with Iida being the last to sit down which surprised Aizawa a little but knowing the boy and the tragedy that befell him he didn't reprimand him for it. He then glanced at Shino who was rubbing his cheeks where Iida punched him but said nothing. '_Ow, for someone who relies on his legs, Iida sure can punch hard, will it's my fault for releasing his anger, but that's better for now._' Shino thought unaware of the teacher's glance.

"First of all welcome back everybody," Aizawa started, "I hope you rested will because we don't have time to waste and will be returning to our schedule. In the sports festival you all got a first-hand experience at one side of what being a pro is like, I hope that you can use this to better yourselves." Aizawa then brought out a huge stack of papers and placed it on his table then turned to the board behind him. "As you all know, pro-heroes from all over the country were watching the sports festival and scouting for potential youth to take for internships." Aizawa talked as he drew some sort of chart on the board and when he finished he turned back around to the students. "Behind me is chart that shows how many offers each of you got." Everybody eagerly looked at the chart to see how well they did and it took their minds off of the fight they just witnessed.

Unsurprisingly, Todoroki had the most offers with 4000 offers, Shino was second with 3500 offers and behind him was Bakugo with 3000 offers, which really got on the explosion-boy's nerves. Aside from these three, nobody even reached 500 offers. What shocked everybody was Midoriya getting no offers whatsoever, despite reaching the semi-finales, the fact that he didn't use his quirk throughout most of the competitions and when he did use it, he broke his bones with every attack. A fact that Mineta made sure to remind the mob-headed boy with, until he was slapped by Tsu to shut him up.

"He doesn't need to hear that, Kero." She then turned to a still-in-shock Midoriya. "Don't listen to him Midoriya, I'm sure you'll be fine, kero." Midoriya turned to her with a grateful smile, "Thanks Asu- I mean Tsu, I appreciate it."

Aizawa continued his explanation, "You will choose one of these offers and will spend a week with the hero of your choosing, for those who don't have any offers, you will be interning with one of the teachers." With that said, Aizawa started distributing the offers of each student then returned to his table.

"Since you'll be out on the field, today's class will be about something all of you will need and one of the most important things for any hero to be popular." Aizawa said in his usual uninterested tone but looked as if he disagreed but didn't have a choice in the matter. The students stiffed and a serious atmosphere loomed over the classroom.

"Today you will be choosing your hero names." The class was silent for a moment before exploding with noise as the students showed their excitement and started celebrating or talking to each other, this time even Shino was excited, until a glare from Aizawa with hair standing up for added effect silenced them.

"You can think about who you're interning with later and when you decide hand it to me. Since I'm not good with this subject, I invited another teacher to help you out." The door opened and in entered Midnight, making sure to walk in the most seductive way possible. Aizawa on the other hand just grunted and retreated into his sleeping bag for a nap.

Shino softly face-palmed, '_Seriously, why is she a teacher? And why did Mr. Aizawa choose her of all people to come to a class with Mineta in it._' He glanced at the grape-themed boy to find him drooling so much he created a small river on his desk and his eyes almost popping out of their sockets and moving in all directions almost like a perverted chameleon, it was disturbing to say the least. Shino decided to look in front of him as to avoid seeing that thing again. His eyes took him to Iida sitting in front with anger and sadness still mixed in his eyes.

"Alright my little cuties, I'll be handing each of you a white board and a pen, think hard about what your hero name would be, this will be what people refer to you in public so make sure it represents you and what you stand for. When you get an idea you will present it in front of class and we'll evaluate it together." The thought of showing the others their names made some students nervous, and the wink Midnight gave didn't help at all, other students became more excited while some didn't really care.

Some students were quick to write their names and present them, with the first being Aoyama. He always enjoyed being in the spotlight so when all eyes were on him, he was more than delighted.

"Listen my fellow students to my beautiful hero name." He exclaimed as he raised the board above his head.

"The shining hero: I can't stop twinkling!" The students sweat-dropped at the full sentence of a name and expected it to be rejected, but to their surprise, Midnight actually liked the name only tweaking it a little to make it 'Can't stop twinkling' instead.

Next was Tsu and everybody was fully expecting the weird names to keep coming but Tsu instead chose a simple and cute name being 'Froppy'. The normal name encouraged others to start presenting their ideas too. Some made clever takes on their names like Uraraka choosing the name 'Uravity' while others were inspired by other heroes like Kirishima choosing 'Red Riot' inspired by the hero Crimson Riot. Others however, chose names that couldn't be for heroes at all, like Ashido wanting to be called 'Alien Queen' and of course, Bakugo wanting to his hero name to be 'King Explosion Murder' which was a villain's name more than anything and was rejected immediately. Two students chose their first names as their hero names those two being Todoroki and surprisingly, Iida. Everybody was expecting him to take up the mantel of Ingenium, but he didn't which worried not only his friends but also the rest of his classmates.

Since Shino received the board and pen, he kept staring at it without writing anything. For some reason, no good idea came to his mind at all, and listening to other people's ideas didn't help, he couldn't think of a single name that he deemed good enough, it was like something was missing but he didn't know what it was. '_All of these are cool and all but I feel like something is not right it's like I'm missing something, but what?_' Shino kept bounding his head thinking what this mysterious thing could be. He remembered Midnight's words that the name should represent him and what he wanted to stand for and used that as a starting point. '_Something to represent me?_' Shino's thought process reached his memories and a single memory came to the surface, a distant memory of a time long gone.

**Flashback:**

A four-year old Shino ran down the stairs excited and headed to the living room of the house where a middle-aged man with blond hair and green eyes that looked like an aged-up version of him with bit of facial hair who was sitting and reading the news-paper when he noticed his son call out to him while jumping excitedly.

"Dad! Look what I found in the attic. Look!" The boy showed his father a dusty and old notebook he held in his golden-gloved hands as if it was a treasure.

"What were you doing in the attic Shino?" the man was more worried about his son playing around in the attic with no supervision than anything.

"I was bored while mom was still making dinner and I wanted to see what was in there." He had always been a curious boy. "But look what I found!" he once again pushed the notebook to his father. The man took the notebook flipping through its pages while Shino watched expectedly waiting to see his father's reaction.

The man's eyes widened with surprise which was the reaction Shino wanted, "Cool, right?" The little boy asked. He didn't know what was written in the notebook exactly since he still couldn't read that well but from what he did read it was about heroes and it had his father's name on it.

"This is my old hero notebook I wrote in when I was young and wanted to be a hero!" The man exclaimed as he sat back down and Shino sat next to him with curiosity emitting from his eyes like a spark.

"You wanted to be a hero, dad? Why didn't you?" This was the first time he had heard of his father's old dream.

"Yeah, when I was bit older than you I, like many kid back then and even now, wanted to be a hero. I even drew a costume and invented some moves too. But as I got older I discovered other things that I was better at." He flipped the pages until he landed on the one he wanted. On the page was a rough sketch depicting a man wearing what looked like a scholar's outfit and holding a book, under it was the word 'Alchemist' but Shino couldn't read it.

"Is that your hero costume dad? And what's written under it?" Shino asked as him studied the sketch.

"That's the hero name I chose, 'Alchemist'."

"Alchemist? What's that?"

"Alchemy is an old science based on the idea that for something to be gained, something had to be lost." The boy looked at his father confused and the man didn't really expect him understand right away.

The man smiled and started explaining, "It's like how my quirk works, when I touch an object with one hand and touch another with the other hand I can exchange the material of the two objects. So for each object to gain the new material, they had to lose their own material. Do you get it?" he watched as the dots connected on Shino's face and looked at his father with a huge smile and starry eyes as if he discovered one of the secrets of the universe.

"I get it now! That's so cool! You're so smart dad!" He was jumping in place with excitement at his new discovery and the blond man couldn't help but feel happy and warm inside that his son thinks he's cool and smart, it was every father's dream.

"Thanks champ, alchemy was originally a method to turn metals into gold, so I think the name would suit you better if you decide to become a hero." In an instant the joy and excitement in Shino disappeared and were replaced by fear and uncertainty as he stopped jumping and looked away from his father.

"Me? A hero?" He grabbed the edges of his shirt and gritted his teeth in frustration.

"What's wrong Shino?" The man asked worried from his son's sudden change in expression. "I thought all kids these days like heroes. Don't you like them?"

The boy didn't look at his father instead looked down at the ground, "I do like them. But my quirk is dangerous," He then raised his head to meet his father's and the man could see just how scared his son was, scared of himself, of what this part of him could do. "What if I touch someone by mistake? What if I hurt someone? What if I…" before he could finish, he was enveloped in his father's arms as the man gave him a warm hug to calm him down. The boy's tears started flowing down his eyes freely.

"That will never happen, I promise you. I won't let it happen." The man separated from his son but kept his hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eye again with a reassuring smile that put the scared boy's heart at ease. "Besides, you trained yourself hard to be able to control it to this extent, right?" he pointed at the golden gloves that covered Shino's hands and received a nod from him, "And like I told you before, do your best and everything is gonna be fine because that's all anybody can ask of you. I need you to know that whatever happens, and no matter what you do, me and your mother will always love and support you. You hear me Shino? Always." The boy didn't respond, instead he hugged his father again but even tightly burying his face in the man's warm chest and the father hugged back while rubbing his son's back to comfort him.

"Thank you dad. Thank you." The boy managed to say between sobs.

"Anytime, son." They then heard a womanly voice calling to them.

"Looks like your mother finished preparing dinner, how about we go and eat now." Shino nods and the two head to the kitchen.

**End of flashback**

Shino snapped out of his memory and looked to his hand to find that the pen wasn't in his hand but on the table. Looking up he found Midoriya looking at him worryingly.

"Is there something wrong Midoriya?"

"You dropped your pen, and when I picked it to give to you, you were crying. Are you okay Shino?" Shino finally noticed the trail of tears on his cheeks. Luckily, no one else noticed this since they were either trying to come up with names or listening to the ones being presented.

"Yeah I'm fine Midoriya, don't worry. I was just remembering something." Shino wiped and held the pen with enthusiasm and started writing on the board.

"Did you find a hero name?" Midoriya asked curious and relieved.

"Yeah." Was all Shino gave him before he stood up and went to present it.

"So Shino, what's the name you have chosen?" Midnight asked intrigued by the boy's happy expression.

"Ms. Midnight you said our hero name should represent us and what we stand for. Well, I want to be hero that would make the best out of the worst situations, a hero that would turn anything to a golden opportunity, so this is the hero name I chose to represent this." He then placed the board in front of him in a position that allowed the rest of class to see what was written.

"The golden hero: Alchemist." Shino voiced what was written.

"Hmm simple, clever, with double meaning, I love it!" Midnight commented with a thumbs up and many of the class cheered for their classmate.

As Shino returned to his seat, he couldn't stop the feeling of bride swilling inside him. Before the class ended All-Might suddenly burst in the classroom asking if he could take Midoriya to discuss something. He looked uncharacteristically worried and somewhat scared which was a good sign.

Classes afterwards went on normally and soon enough, lunch came around. Shino entered the cafeteria for the first time for a while and was reminded with how big the damn place was, and how crowded it was. He kept looking around wandering how the hell he was supposed to find Kendo. While looking he got a glance of Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida, Tsu, and Todoroki sitting together on a table, but acted as if he saw nothing, tensions were high right now and it wasn't the time to talk. He resumed his search until a raised hand caught his attention. Getting closer, he recognized the owner of the hand to be his girlfriend, she had somehow noticed him looking around and was trying to get his attention. He sat down on the opposite side facing Kendo.

"Hey there, sorry for the delay, this place is just too big." Shino apologized but Kendo shook her head saying that he didn't need to.

"Did you guys get to choose your hero names yet?" Kendo asked.

"Yeah, say hello to Alchemist." Shino exclaimed as he stretched his arms and bowing which garnered a chuckle from Kendo.

"And I'm Battle fist." Kendo got up taking a fighting pose and the two laughed at each other's display as they sat back down.

"Can't believe we'll be out on the streets doing actually hero work."

"Did you already choose where you're going?" Shino asked with a bit of disbelief.

"Not yet, what about you?" Kendo asked back.

"No way, there is too many of them to even read." Shino answered with a shrug.

"How many offers did you get?" Kendo asked curious as to how much would cause such a reaction.

"I got 3500 offers." The look of absolute shock on Kendo's face almost made Shino worry that her brain had stopped working from the shock but she suddenly stood up slamming her hands on the table.

"3500 OFFERS!" Everybody was now staring at the girl that screamed out of nowhere and when Kendo noticed this she quietly sat down.

"I only got 513 offers, I didn't even know there was that many heroes in japan." Kendo was now whispering as to not get anybody's attention again.

Shino just chuckled, "You think that's high? Todoroki got 4000 offers." Kendo covered her face with her hands thinking that they must have broken so record for most offers.

"It's not about how many offers you get really, it's about making the most out of the one you finally choose." Shino was trying to console the shocked girl to no avail.

After a bit of slow breathing and contemplating her life choices, Kendo calmed down enough to continue the conversation. "Do you even have an idea of what you want to gain from the internship? She asked with a tired voice. "People usually choose internship based on two things, either to strengthen their strong point and master their fighting style better, or to cover their week points and learn new things."

"Since I'm trying to learn martial arts now, I think I want to choose a hero that would provide such training." Shino informed Kendo of his intentions.

"If you're really serious about learning, why don't you come to my family's dojo?" Kendo offered and got a raised eye-brow in response.

"Is that your plan to introduce me to your parents?"

Kendo looked away trying to fake innocence, "Maybe." She hadn't actually thought about it like that but know that she did, it was just two perfect.

"Sure, but I still will start with the internship first as to build some foundation before meeting your parents. Now, what about you? Did you decide what you want from the internship?"

"I want to gain some actual battle experience against actual villains. Can't have 1-A being the only ones to fight villains now can we."

"You're really joining this rivalry thing?" Shino didn't really mind but the rest of class 1-B were showing this rivalry in a bad way and class 1-A didn't really care to indulge them.

"Yeah, I know there is tension between our classes but it's all Monoma's fault, the rest of the class are just frustrated and want to prove themselves." Kendo was a bit sad and frustrated at her inability to help them.

A growling sound stopped the conversation as Shino held his stomach as if trying to hide the sound.

"Seems like we got distracted from the original goal." Kendo said as she brought out two lunch boxes. "I wanted to show you this, I worked hard to make it."

Opening the box, Shino saw a very familiar look, egg rolls, hamburger steak, and sea food, basically it was the same lunch Shino showed Kendo the first time they hung together. It brought back very fond memories.

"Wow! This looks delicious! You sure improved a lot." Shino said genuinely impressed.

"Thanks, I wanted to see how far I came and this came to mind. Take a bite and tell me what you think." Kendo gave Shino a pair of eating sticks.

"Don't mind if I do!" Shino was about to start eating when something or someone hit his head. Looking up he saw Monoma with his wide grin and was accompanied by some class 1-B's students.

"Sorry there I didn't see you." Monoma apologized but it was clear he wasn't sorry at all. "Say you look so comfortable here and the place is empty, you don't mind sharing the table with us, do you?" Without even waiting for an answer, the students started sitting down.

The girls sat on Kendo's side almost in a protective manner while the boys sat on Shino's side. In an instant, the table that was empty became the most crowded table in the cafeteria.

"So, what brings you here on this lovely day?" Monoma asked Shino.

"Monoma stop this right now." Kendo demanded and was about to get up but Shino raised his hand telling her not to, then he turned to Monoma with a smile.

"Like everyone else, I came here to eat, which's what I was about to do before you 'accidently' hit me in the head." Shino answered making an air coma sign to emphasize his point.

"You know accidents happen, but it's interesting that you say you came to eat but I never saw you in the cafeteria before. What? Do you think you're too good to sit with the rest of us?" Monoma was clearly trying to make Shino look like a bad guy in front of the others, but Shino wasn't gonna let that happen. He decided to ignore the totally creepy implication that he was stalking class 1-A on daily bases to notice that didn't visit the cafeteria.

"No it's nothing like that, the last time I came here an alarm went off, you probably know the incident, so I just avoided the place and started bringing food from home instead."

"What? Is one of the top students of 1-A scared of villains? Weren't you guys the ones that survived the USJ attack and people started calling you the superior class or was that all just lies?" Monoma asked mockingly.

Shino didn't falter against the wave of accusations but could see Kendo was reaching her limit and was about to intervene, not wanting to cause problems for her, he quickly spoke.

"Yes I am scared, and there's nothing wrong with that. And the whole who's the better class is stupid, we're all hero-in-training and to be compared on something like surviving an incident is wrong and inaccurate. In my opinion, you're all strong and have the potential to be great heroes. And I assure you class 1-A doesn't believe they're better than you." Shino could see Monoma gritting his teeth and the students' looks of conflict, he knew this wasn't enough to make them change their minds or erase all their feelings of inferiority but it made them consider it which was a start.

"I what you say is true then why are these guys from your class staring at us like that?" Monoma asked while pointing over his shoulder to a table not too far away.

Shino looked to where Monoma had pointed to find it was Midoriya and the others who were staring at them, or more specifically at him. The moment his eyes lock with Iida's however, he immediately turned around and the rest did too, but Shino saw something in his eyes, while the anger and sadness were unfortunately there, there was another emotion, guilt, and Shino couldn't help but feel sad for his friend.

Shino turned around to the group he was with now, "They're not staring at you, they're staring at me. We had a bit of a fight earlier."

"Oh! The leaders of class 1-A fighting? What a shame." Monoma was still trying to mock Shino.

Before Shino could react the bell rang signaling the end of lunch time and the students of 1-B left to go to their classes leaving Shino and Kendo alone again. Shino looked at the box of food he didn't get to eat from with regret.

"Sorry Kendo, and after you worked hard to make this for me and I didn't get to eat it."

"It's not your fault Shino, it's Monoma's. That's what I was talking about, a rivalry between our classes would've been fun if it wasn't for people like him. I'll have a serious talk with him when I return." Kendo crossed her arms clearly angry.

"It's not entirely his fault though, what he said had some truth to it, people judged you guys way too quickly and on something you had no choice in and that created a sense of inadequacy within them. So just go easy and try to lessen that feeling as much as you can."

"I've been trying, but they lack confidence in themselves and the sports festival didn't help. Hopefully, they can improve during the internship."

"Let's hope. I have to go now but don't worry, I will find a way to eat this food and tell you later."

"Thanks, see you later then." The two parted and each headed to their own class.

When Shino arrived at the classroom, he was immediately met with Iida who upon noticing Shino bowed so low he could get back pain which caught Shino a bit off guard.

"What's going on here? Why are you bowing Iida?"

"I humbly and sincerely apologize to you for my shameful behavior today." Iida said in a sad and desperate voice completely uncharacteristic of him.

"Why would you apologize to me? I'm the one that said your brother was lucky to survive." Shino questioned.

"Midoriya and the others told me about what happened to your family and I realized you're talking out of experience and not out disrespect and I apologize for letting my anger get a hold of me."

Shino now understood what was happening and looked at Midoriya and the others as they were behind Iida, they all had uncomfortable faces as if they didn't know whether that was the right thing to do. He gave them an assuring smile that caused them to relax then turned to Iida placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Raise your head Iida, you have nothing to apologize for. what you said didn't hurt me because I knew it was your anger speaking so don't worry." Shino could see the relief in Iida's eyes.

"Thank you Shino, you're a wonderful friend."

"However, there is something I need to talk to you about alone so just come with me quickly before Mr. Aizawa shows up." Iida was confused and curious so he followed Shino away from the class.

"Please make it quick Shino, we don't want to be late for class, we'd put a bad example for our classmates." Iida was somewhat back to his old self but Shino could tell he was a bit different. They reached far enough and Shino took a slow breath before turning around to face Iida making sure to always keep eye contact.

"You're planning to go after Stain yourself aren't you?" The accuse disguised as a question surprised Iida and startled him.

"W-What are talking about Shino?" Iida tried to deny but his eyes revealed everything. The panic that was in them answered all of Shino's question.

"Don't try it Iida, I'm not an idiot and I can tell you've been thinking about it all day." Seeing no way out Iida admitted.

"Are you gonna try to stop me? Because if so, don't waste your time, I have made up my mind." Iida was determined to catch the killer that harmed his brother.

"I'm not gonna tell you how that is against everything that heroes stand for Iida, because I know you know that more than anyone. But do you really think you're strong enough to defeat him? An expert killer who defeated multiple pro-heroes with little effort and has a yet to be identified quirk, do you think you can beat him?" Shino could see the doubt spread in Iida's eyes as the facts were laid in front of him.

"So what do you want me to do, give up and let that villain roam the streets killing as he wishes!?" Iida defended his argument.

"What I want you to do is become stronger so you can make your brother proud. You dying for a stupid vengeance isn't gonna solve anything!" Shino argued back making sure to remind Iida of his brother.

"I won't die, I will kill that bastard and make him pay for what he had done!" Shino could see that Iida was beyond reasoning with and had to force him to quit before he got himself killed.

"Iida I'm doing this for your own good, but if you still intend to go through with this, then I have no choice but to tell the teachers and have them stop you."

"You wouldn't!" Iida was angry that his friend would do that to him.

"I would, if it means protecting you from yourself then I would do even more than that." Shino was still looking Iida in the eye making sure to convey how serious he was.

Iida looked away defeated, "Fine, if you're going to go that far." He turned around to leave and Shino's expression softened. He tried to put his hand on Iida's shoulder but Iida knocked over before walking away.

'_This is for your own good Iida._' Shino thought sadly as he returned to the class. What he didn't know was that Iida hadn't given up on his plan just yet.

The rest of the day went normally and Shino returned home tired, Aizawa wasn't kidding when he said they would be returning in full force. He finally got a chance to try Kendo's food and gave some to Mother and his siblings to try too. Despite needing to be reheated, the food tasted very good and Shino didn't waste any time telling Kendo this, and mention how Mother said she 'approved of her' which probably caused her a mild heart attack since she didn't reply for some time after that.

Later after eating dinner, Shino went to his room with a cup of coffee in hand and brought out the offers he received in order to read each one and research them to choose the ideal one for him. It was clearly gonna be a long night.

**Thank you for reading.**


	14. Chapter 14

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 14**

The days leading to the internship week were uneventful, if don't take into account the many, many pranks and tricks class 1-B was trying to pull on class 1-A. they were mostly harmless but very distracting and annoying, and unfortunately class 1-A decided to not take the adult action and resolve this and instead retaliated with their own pranks. It was always Kaminari, Sero, Mina and sometimes Jiro who did this and the rest of the class were either supporting them or simply didn't want to interfere. Bakugo's cursing and screaming didn't help either since it reinforced the idea that class 1-A looked down on class 1-B and gave Monoma more materials to work with on turning what's left of class 1-B on his side. Despite Shino and Kendo's efforts, and help from people like Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Tokage, and Tetsutetsu, they were out-numbered and out-gunned as their voice of reason was drowned by the loud booming voice of chaos. It was clear that the relationship between the two classes was going downhill fast.

Speaking of relationships going downhill, Iida's and Shino's relationship wasn't the best it could be. It reached a point where Iida wouldn't even look him in the eye let alone talk to him. Midoriya, Uraraka, and Todoroki tried several times to patch things up but not knowing what the problem was exactly and Iida's refusal to talk about it made things hard for them, Shino told them all he could but said that he can't say anything without Iida's approval. This left the group broken as they instead focused on choosing who they were interning with.

Both Shino and Uraraka chose the hero Gunhead to intern with and Midoriya interned a hero called Gran Torino. According to Midoriya, he is a retired hero who used to also be a teacher at U.A and he saw Midoriya in the sports festival and wanted to train him. The most surprising choice however, was Todoroki's choice of interning with his father -surprising to Midoriya and Shino at least- which he justified by saying that his father was still the number two hero and a very strong fighter, in private he had thanked Midoriya and Shino for helping him and told them that his visit to his mother had helped him see how wrong he was and move forward to become a better hero for her and for himself, which made the two extremely happy. Iida's choice of not interning with the Ingenium agency who, despite the hero being forced into early retirement, was still working and instead interning with a not-well-known hero called Manual located in Hosu equally as surprising as Todoroki's. Iida said that despite being fairly obscure, that Manual was a great hero with a lot of experience he could learn from.

The day of the internship finally came and everybody were now in the train station waiting to head to their individual trains but for the moment they were all together talking about how excited they were to start their internship. However, Iida stood alone with a thoughtful expression as if he was contemplating or planning something. One by one, the groups divided as each student went in their own way with Shino and Uraraka being the only two to ride the same train.

"I can't believe we're interning with the same hero Shino!" Uraraka said as she excitedly shook her fists as the two sat in the train.

"Yeah, I thought it was gonna be lonely, but I guess not. Why did you choose Gunhead though?"

"In my fight with Bakugo, I realized how lacking I am when it comes to close-range fights and Gunhead's martial arts are mainly for self-defense and subduing the enemy, so it's perfect for my quirk. What about you?"

"Like you, after my match with Bakugo I wanted to perfect making and using the golden armor and for that, martial arts was the best way. I plan to delve deeper in martial arts after the internship but thought Gunhead's martial arts was a good start. I guess like Midoriya, Bakugo has a way to make people better themselves."

"I guess, but he's always so violent and angry unlike Deku who is sweet and considerate and helpful." Shino couldn't help noticing Uraraka's expression and her cheeks turning slightly red as she recited all the good things about Midoriya and he recognized that kind of face but chose to not comment on it now.

"That's what makes Bakugo himself. Although I would prefer it if he toned it down a little." While Shino didn't like Bakugo much, he could respect his talent and determination as well as his hard work.

When the two heroes-in-training arrived at the agency they went through the door and were immediately greeted by a very cheerful Gunhead which took them by surprise, the man was tall and muscular, he had pale mint-green spiky hair that pointed away from his face that was covered by a robotic-looking mask with four eyes. In summary, he didn't look like the kind of guy that would be this cheerful, but somehow his voice managed to be both welcoming and comfortable despite his appearance.

"You must be the new interns from U.A." he received a nod from the two teens in response. "Good, welcome to my agency, please first head to change to the changing rooms and change into your hero costumes so we can begin right away." Gunhead pointed in the direction of the changing rooms telling them where the male and female rooms where.

After changing into their hero costumes, they both followed Gunhead to his main office. The room they entered was a wide space that served as both the office from which Gunhead would do all his paperwork and receive phone calls with a desk located at the far left corner and a TV beside it, and a dojo to train with sidekicks and interns. Speaking of sidekicks, he had several, which was very common for many heroes, who were all standing on one side of the dojo each in their hero costumes.

"Please stand next to the rest and we'll start right now." The two teen headed their instructor's words as he walked to the left of the line.

"Listen up everybody! Since we have interns today we will going over the basics once more. That does not mean you can slack off, understand! Now we all will start with warm-up exercises then start with punching training, then we will move on to self-defense techniques!" Gunhead's cheerful voice flipped to a fiercer and more professional one which caught Shino and Uraraka by surprise once again, but the others seemed to be used to it as they replied to their teacher and boss.

Like the hero said, they first started with the normal warm-up exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, jumping jacks, and the like. This part was pretty easy for Shino since he already did these things every morning, and Uraraka seemed to be handling herself pretty well. Next came the punching training in which they had to perform all types of punches from right-hook to left-hook, straight punches and uppercuts while maintaining a steady breath. It was like training to be a boxer, and Gunhead explained that to defend against and subdue an enemy, you need strong arm muscles to withstand their attacks and to hold them down, and this training was to help each muscle develop and increase your stamina. After an hour of this, the trainees started actual self-defense training.

First, Gunhead gave one of the sidekicks a rubber knife and ordered him to attack. The man complied and rushed at the hero swinging the knife at him. Gunhead moved fluidly and with a few simple moves he knocked the knife from the man's hand then while he was still in a daze Gunhead came behind him then grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back then tripped him causing him to fall on the ground effectively subduing him. Shino and Uraraka watched in awe at their instructor who looked cool as he helped the sidekick up making sure he was not hurt in any way.

"All of you will now take turns attacking me, for those attacking, focus on how your body will move so you can get a feel for how you should make your opponent move, for the ones watching, watch how I move and make sure to observe every detail, understand." Everybody nodded and started taking turns attacking and watching the moves.

After everybody took a turn, Gunhead had them lined up again. "Now that you know how your body should move, it's time to apply this knowledge. You will be split into pairs, each pair will have one knife with one acting as the assailant and the other acting as the defendant, after successfully performing the counter the rolls will be flipped." The hero then turned to Uraraka and Shino, "Since you two are new, you will be paired together."

After two hour of training, Gunhead called for everyone to take a break. "Good job everybody, today was a light day but starting tomorrow we will be adding foot work training and more techniques." Shino sweet-dropped at the notion that all of this was light training, he wasn't that exhausted but still, '_Man! Being a pro-hero is hard work, but it's still fun. I must do my best and not fall behind, I'm sure everybody else is doing the same._' He took a glance at Uraraka and saw a determined look on her face although she was the most exhausted out of everyone so he knew she felt the same.

Gunhead approached the two interns with his cheerful attitude seemingly back and with two water bottles that he extended to them, "Good job you two, take your time resting because you will be going with me on patrol." The two nodded as they took the bottles.

"Thank you Sir." Shino and Uraraka said in unison.

After a short break, Shino and Uraraka followed Gunhead as they patrolled the city, they were both given handcuffs to use to restrain any villains they face. It was obvious that Gunhead was a very popular and loved hero in his territory, since there wasn't any crime to stop, he spent the time greeting the public, playing with the children, and signing autographs. Shino didn't factor Gunhead's personality when he chose him, he only cared to learn his martial arts, but seeing his instructor's actions now, he was glad he chose him.

Suddenly, a siren sounded out as three men wearing hockey masks ran out a bank carrying heavy-looking bags. Before either Shino or Uraraka could react, Gunhead was already chasing after them. Right when he was at an optimum distance he brought some shards from his belt and aimed with his right hand and using his quirk, he shot at the men accurately hitting the bags cutting them and spilling the money all over the street.

"We did it men! We'll become rich and live happily ever after!" one of the men said, but when he looked behind at their bags he finally noticed what happened, they immediately stopped and started trying to put the money back in the bags. Using this chance, Gunhead rushed at one of them who seemed to be the leader catching his arm when he attacked and flipping him over his shoulder then twisting his arm and nailing his to the ground with his knee.

The two associates stared in horror at how easily their boss was taken down but quickly snapped out of it and went to help him with one of them turning his hands into blades and the other bringing out a gun. "Damn you hero! How dare you attack the boss!" The man with the gun yelled, but Gunhead didn't even bat an eye at them, instead he focused on putting the handcuffs on the man he was holding.

Before either man could get close to Gunhead, the one with the gun had his hands completely covered in gold stopping him from shooting before he was kneed in the face by Shino who then he proceeded to cuff him as well. The man with the knife-hands found himself losing his weight and floating slightly above the ground then felt a hand grab him by the back of his collar and he was slammed to the ground hard as Uraraka twisted his arms similar to Gundhead and cuffed him.

After handing the villains to the police officers and helping to collect all the money from the street, the three continued their patrol. "That was unexpected, but you two did a fine job today. Although your reaction was a bit slow, that will change with experience. With hard work and training, I'm sure you'll grow to be amazing heroes." Gunhead praised the two hero students.

Fortunately, no other incidents happened for the rest of the day and the three returned to the office where Shino and Uraraka after experience the cool part of being a pro hero that draws everyone to the profession, were introduced to the boring side of the job nobody knew about. They had to write detailed reports on the incident siting everything that happened, although Gunhead was kind enough to help them do it, it still took some time and both Shino and Uraraka shuddered at the thought of having to do it on their own in the future.

'_Never thought being a hero had such a boring side to it._' They both thought at the same time.

At the end of the day, Shino returned home exhausted but when he opened the door it as if an alarm was set off because all his siblings suddenly manifested out of nowhere and ran at him greeting him then demanding he tell them everything that happened and if he did anything cool and if Gunhead was as cool as he is on TV. Despite his exhaustion, Shino could never refuse their requests and they seemed so eager to know, so he sat down in the living room with the children sitting around him and began to tell them everything.

The next day, the training was more intense with more practices and techniques. After it ended, Shino and Uraraka sat down once again to relax and catch their breath while Gunhead sat at his desk and turned the TV on and switched to the news.

"I have a question for you two." Gunhead said in serious tone as he dramatically furled his chair to face his two interns who started mentally bracing themselves for whatever serious matter he was about to discuss with them.

"Are you by any chance….a couple?" he asked in such a girly tone and the two U.A. students stared at the pro hero who had his face hidden but was probably smiling for a moment still not comprehending the question before spitting out the water from their mouths in shock.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Shino shouted not believing that a pro hero and someone who looked like Gunhead would assume such a thing and moreover would actually ask this in such a tone. Uraraka on the other turned to a round tomato and buried her face in her hands to hide the embarrassment.

"What, you aren't?" Gunhead asked almost disappointed.

Shino sighed, Gunhead was apparently a romantic, but for him to arrive at such a conclusion was absurd, "With all due respect Sir, that's not the tone to use when asking such a question. My heart almost stopped thinking what kind of question you wanted to ask with that serious tone. And look what you did to Uraraka." Shino pointed at his friend who had started mumbling to herself.

"Oh! I'm sorry, it's just you two are from the same class and you both came to me and you look friendly with each other so I was curious." Gunhead seeing what his question did to his interns apologized.

"We're just friends that's all." Shino said.

Uraraka finally managed to regain her sanity and stood beside Shino, "Yeah"

"And I already have a girlfriend."

"Yeah…wait what? Really?" Uraraka asked surprised, this the first time she heard about that. But Shino didn't answer her, instead he kept talking.

"And she's interested in a boy."

"WHAT?!" Uraraka shouted and her face returned to its red color, this time with steam coming out.

"Really! Do tell!" Gunhead asked almost sounding like gossipy high school girl.

"Yeah, he's a boy in our class and friend group, his name is…" Before Shino could attar the words, Uraraka placed her hands on his mouth stopping him.

"No no no, stop it, it's not true, I don't like him like that." She almost screamed the words right in Shino's ears.

Shino struggled to remove her hand but eventually managed to make an opening big enough for his to speak, "You can't fool me, I saw the look on your face when you talk about him. I know for a fact you like him."

Before Uraraka could respond to the accusation, the news channel displayed a warning with loud siren sound that caught everybody's attention. Then a headline appeared that read "Hosu under attack!"

The news anchor looked distressed and worried as she face the camera, "**Urgent New! The city of Hosu is currently under attack by the league of villains.**" Everyone in the office listened in silence."**The leader of the league known as Tomura Shigaraki appeared suddenly in the middle of the city accompanied by multiple of the creature called Nomu, the same creature that All-Might defeated in the dreaded USJ incident, and started attacking indiscriminately. Fortunately, several heroes were quick to respond like Endeavour, Manual, and many others and are now engaged in combat with the beasts and their leader.**" The feed then changed to an air view of the city up in flames as the citizens ran for their lives while several heroes were either fighting the monsters or aiding the civilians escape.

"Oh no! This is horrible! That means Todoroki and Iida are there too." Uraraka said clearly disturbed by what she was seeing.

"You guys were in that USJ incident right?" Gunhead asked now in his serious persona and rightfully so.

"Yes and if All-Might didn't arrive, we might have all died there. But these creature don't look much like the one we faced except for the exposed brain." Shino explained clutching his hands in frustration.

"Man! Hosu can't seem to catch, first the hero killer than a Nomu attack." This caught Shino's attention and he started to feel dread.

"What do you mean? What does the hero killer have to do with Hosu?"

"You don't know!" Gunhead was surprised that someone didn't know about such a popular topic, "Hosu is the last place the hero killer was seen, some think he might be still there, hiding in one of the many abandoned buildings there."

Shino's eyes widen in horrified realization and for the first time he regrets not watching the news or following the subject. "God damn it Iida! You lied to me!" he screamed and punch the wall next to him.

"What's wrong Shino?" Uraraka asked worried about her friend's sudden outburst.

"Iida interned with Manual so he can get to Hosu and look for Stain." Shino answered in low but still angry voice.

"What?! Is he crazy?!" Uraraka couldn't believe what she was hearing and worries just increased.

"No, he's blinded by rage and sadness." Shino signaled to Uraraka to move away from the others so they can continue their talk.

"But how does he even plan on finding him." Uraraka asked.

"I'm not sure, but he might use his patrols with Manual to search the abandoned buildings, Gunhead said that was where he would most likely be if he was still in Hosu."

"But with what's happening now, won't stain come out to attack the heroes fighting the Nomu?"

"Unless Iida finds him first. He probably will want to take him down himself to avenge his brother. Damn it Iida, if that happens, he'll get himself killed." They both shuddered at the thought of their friend going down at the hands of the hero killer.

"Let's hope he doesn't find him or that Stain had left Hosu already." Almost on cue, both Uraraka's and Shino's phones rang and when they got them out they found it was a massage from Midoriya. The massage didn't have any text and only contained his location, which was in Hosu.

"What's Midoriya doing in Hosu? And why did he just send his location with nothing else? It's not like him."

A thought came to Shino's mind, "Unless he can't send anything else. If he's facing a strong enemy and needs help, he won't have the time to write so he just sent his location. I have a bad feeling about this, the location is near the Nomu fight but looks like it's an ally so the heroes don't know about this."

"What are we going to do?"

"We'll go of course. Our friend is in danger and we have to help. Todoroki is near him so hopefully he can assist him until we arrive." They both ran to the door catching Gunhead's attention.

"Where are the both of you going?" he asked as he stood up from his desk.

"Our friend is in danger and we have to help. Please Sir can you go to Hosu as fast as you can to assist the other heroes." Shino asked quickly as he made his way to the door.

"But all traffic leading there will be closed you can't go there."

"I have a faster way to get there, but we have to move now Sir or we'll be too late." They didn't wait for Gundhead's response and got out the building.

When they reached the street, Shino made his hover board but made taller to withstand two people, then him and Uraraka hope on it, "Hold on tight, we're going full speed" Uraraka complied and wrapped her arms around Shino's waist before they were moving so fast everything looked blur.

'_Hopefully, we won't be too late. Hang in there guys._'

Midoriya, Todoroki, Iida were having a hard time against the hero killer, Stain. For one, Iida and Midoriya were still paralyzed by the villain's quirk, also it was getting harder and harder to defend against his attacks as Stain became more desperate to finish his job of killing the hero Native, his original target before Iida came along, and Iida who came to take revenge on him. At the moment, Todoroki was using his ice to defend against Stain's attacks and trying to capture him while using the fire to keep him at a distance as much as possible. Unfortunately, Stain was no amateur and threw two small knifes at him forcing him to make an ice shield to stop them but it also block his vision on Stain who used the opportunity to close the distance.

"Watch out Todoroki!" was all Midoriya could say to warn his friend of the incoming danger but it was too late as Stain had already reached him cutting the ice to pieces at moving to cut him next, until a golden plate fell between the two blocking the attack.

"Looks like we made it." Said Shino as he and Uraraka descended slowly thanks to Uraraka's quirk.

"More small fries interrupting my mission." Said Stain clearly agitated.

"Shino, Uraraka, what are you doing here?" Asked Iida with a raspy voice as he laid on the ground.

"Iida! Are you okay?" Uraraka rushed to check on her friend and Shino looked around and noticed the barely conscious her Native with a big wound and resting against the wall. He then noticed Midoriya who was laying on the ground with his elbow to support him behind Stain, fortunately he only had a cut on his leg and nothing more. Shino then focused on the villain himself with angry eyes.

"And I assume this is the hero killer." He was a fairly muscular and thin man with a flat face and slight hunch, red eyes and missy black hair that flowed wildly, he was wearing an eye mask, a red head band, and some battle gear that was decked with small knifes and a long sward along with spiked shoes. All in all, he was deserving of his reputation.

"Just more false heroes for me to rid the world of." Stain smiled and everyone could feel his bloodlust making the air thick and hard to breath.

"Who are you to judge me? You're nothing but a lunatic killer. What right do you have to say who's fake and who's not?" Shino said angrily.

"Everybody, please leave this place. The hero killer is my responsibility, I can't allow you to get hurt anymore because of me." Iida pleaded as Uraraka moved him next to Native.

"Not this again." Said Midoriya as he slowly stood up.

"Shut up Iida, are you seriously asking us to abandon you? What kind of friends do you think we are?" Shino reprimanded Iida who looked down in shame. He brought out a roll of medical gauze and bottle of disinfector and gave them to Uraraka, "Take care of Iida and Native fast." She nodded and hurried back to her friend and the pro hero with the medical supplies.

Not wanting his prey to heal, Stain rushed at the group throwing another small knife at Uraraka which was blocked by the golden plate that bent to intercept the weapon but wasn't fast enough to catch Stain as he jumped over it heading to Uraraka. Before he continued however an ice wave stopped him forcing him to jump back. Just when he landed on the ground he felt something coming at him and was barely able to dodge a punch coming from Midoriya as the green haired boy made his way to his friends' side.

"Damn it." He muttered seeing his opponents band together, but he wasn't someone who would let a pray escape. The one time that happened, it led to this situation and he wasn't about to make the same mistake.

"Midoriya are you ok?" Shino checked on his friend to make sure he was injured.

"I'm fine, I'm glad you came but it's gonna be dangerous so don't let your guard down. Stain has a quirk that paralysis anyone he ingests the blood of." Midoriya explained while making sure to keep his eyes on Stain as to avoid any surprises.

"So that's how defeated all those heroes, and why Iida wasn't moving even though his legs weren't injured." Shino deduced.

"Yeah, it seems the duration of the effect depends on your blood type but I don't have the details on that yet so it better if you don't get injured at all if possible."

"Got it!" Shino moved the golden plate while touch some of Todoroki's ice that was near him and cover his arms, legs, and chest with golden armor.

"He is extremely fast and agile as you saw and this allay is like his turf so we're at a disadvantage." Todoroki added and Shino nodded.

"Why are you doing this? After all I did, I pushed you away when you tried to help me. I'm endangering all of you because of my foolish desire for revenge so why are risking your lives for me." Iida questioned his friends and they all just looked at each other then back at him.

"Because we're your friends." They all said together.

"It's like Shino said, what kind of friends would we be if we just left you to die?" Uraraka said as she finished wrapping the gauze around Iida's wound.

"I know how you felt when you made this decision Iida, but you have to learn from this mistake and become better, not wallow in your misery." Said Todoroki.

"Yeah, you said you wanted to become like your brother, is this how the hero ingenium acts. If you really want him to be proud of you, then rise and swear that you'll improve." Midoriya said.

"And if it's bothering you so much, we'll have a nice long talk about how you lied to my face and caused the entire group heartache, but after we defeat this asshole." Shino added.

"Aside from that boy," Stain pointed at Midoriya "You're all fake heroes and must be purged so the world can be better." Stain screamed and lunched himself at the students.

Midoriya activated his quirk as green lighting arced around his body and rushed to intercept the attack. It was Shino and Uraraka's first time seeing this so they were a bit surprised but they shook it of quickly. This was no time to stare in daze. Shino followed behind Midoriya as they approached the enemy. Stain didn't waste time swinging his sword aimed at Midoriya's shoulder but it was Shino who intercepted the attack with his arm. Immediately, Stain let go the sword grabbing a small knife and tried stabbing him with it only for Midoriya to kick to arm holding the knife which created an opening for Shino to punch him in the stomach. Stain saw the punch coming so he stepped on his sward's guard flipping it and holding it in front of him to block the punch. The two student then jumped to the side making way to a stream of fire directed at Stain but he too was able to dodge it and using the sides of the allay was able to bypass both Shino and Midoriya and head straight for Todoroki.

"Come back here you grasshopper bastard!" Shino shouted as he and Midoriya rush to catch up to Stain before he reached Todoroki. But he had an early start on them and was much more proficient at jumping from side to side to gain speed.

Todoroki tried shooting fire at the approaching lunatic but he easily dodged so he resorted to build as thick a wall as he could to stop him and trap him where Shino and Midoriya could fight him.

"You think this can stop me!" Stain shouted and threw all the knifes he had left all at the wall causing it to crack and become easy to cut through and now he was once again slashing at Todoroki but now Midoriya and Shino were still too far to stop him in time. However, right before the sword could strike Todoroki, Iida activated his quirk at full force and rushed to at Stain kicking his sword breaking it then with the other leg kicking Stain in the face knocking him back in time for Shino to slide down under him and kick his back sending him flying only to meet Midoriya who punched him in the stomach sending down to the ground where Todoroki was about lunch a fire attack, but stain regained his composure and kicked the wall lunching himself away from the attack and creating some distance between him and the U.A. students.

"Iida you can move now!" Uraraka cheered as she ran to his side.

"Yes, it seems the effects of his quirk have finally been lifted."

"Well good to know." Shino said as he and Midoriya walked to the others.

Iida looked at his friends and wave of gratification washed over him, it was like the veil of anger that blinded him so far was finally removed. "Thank you all, I am truly blessed to have such wonderful friends like you. You're right I would shame the entire Iida family if this was enough to put me down!" Iida exclaimed and the others couldn't help but smile.

"We're still having that conversation though." Shino said jokingly.

"Naturally, but we have to capture Stain first." They all looked at the villain.

"Just give up Stain, we outnumber you 5 to 1. You have no way to win." Midoriya threatened, despite being out of breath and clearly damaged, Stain didn't have an ounce of doubt or fear in his red eyes.

"NEVER! I must continue my quest and rid this world of all you fake heroes. When I'm done with you the people will remember what the word hero should actually mean!" Stain screamed and his tenacity and bloodlust were so strong that the group could almost see the face of a beast behind him.

"What tenacity! How are going to defeat him?" Todoroki asked.

"We almost got him with the last attack but he recovered before we could land the final hit. If we can disorient him and do it again he should be able to recover." Midoriya was putting a plan together but needed the final touch.

"I can do that." Uraraka raised her hand and everybody looked at her.

"Are you sure Uraraka? It will be very dangerous to approach him." Midoriya ask to make sure she knew what she was up to.

"Of course I'm sure, this entire time I was watching from the sidelines, I know his moves and it's not like I'll be alone. Plus, my quirk is the best way to disorient him." Nobody could argue with her logic.

"Okay then, let's do this!" Shino shouted as they all moved to do their part.

"Come at me!" Stain unsheathed a short sword and rushed at them.

Shino and Uraraka were the first to move with Uraraka running right behind Shino. When the two sides reached each other, Stain was the first to strike with the short sword but it was blocked again by Shino's left arm but this time Uraraka jumped over Shino making contact with the villain's body with her pads erasing his gravity. As expected, even a professional would be disoriented when they start floating helplessly if even for a second and that second was all Shino needed to uppercut him in the chin sending him flying where both Midoriya and Iida waited for him. Iida had his exhaust pipes cooled by Todoroki while Shino and Uraraka were fighting Stain and was ready to use it again. Iida and Midoriya lunch themselves striking at the same time with Midoriya delivering a powerful punch to Stain's face while Iida delivered a kick to his chest sending him back to the ground. Before he hit the ground, Todoroki lunch a huge stream of fire this time hitting him before Uraraka disengaged her quirk letting the unconscious body of the hero killer fall to the ground. They all grouped up then Shino incased Stain's hands and legs in gold just to be safe.

"Did we just defeat the hero killer?" Uraraka asked disbelief clear in her voice.

"I guess we did." Midoriya sighed in relief to have this stressful fight finally over.

"Shouto!" They all heard the angry voice of Endeavor and many other noises.

"The heroes came!" Uraraka cheered.

"That means they defeated the Nomu." Shino said.

"Let's bring Native so he could get properly healed." Iida instructed and the other nodded with Midoriya carrying Native while Shino levitated Stain and moved him with them.

The heroes were surprised to see five U.A. student came out of the allay but their eyes could almost came out of their sockets when they saw who they had captured. medics were already called to take care of civilians so it was easy to find someone to take care of Native and Iida's injures. Todoroki and Midoriya only had small cuts so the medics only gave them a band aid to close the wound. Shino and Uraraka having arrived last didn't suffer any wounds as they were waiting for the others Gunhead approached them, he had managed to arrive on time to join the fight and even defeated one of the Nomu, on who had wings.

"How are you two feeling?" He asked wanting to check on his students.

"Relieved to be honest, we managed to assist our friends and captured the hero killer." Shino answered and Uraraka just nodded.

"Despite how reckless what you did was, I understand that you were only helping your friends. However, this won't go without punishment, starting tomorrow you two will be assign extra training and won't be allowed outside of office unless with me." The two groaned but understood that they still broke the law. "And I doubt the police will be happy with you guys." Gunhead warned.

"We have no regrets sir, like you said we were helping our friends." Uraraka said.

"Good, I will support you and see if I could convince them to lighten the punishment." Gunhead gave them a thumbs up before walking to where the heroes were talking to the police.

Right then Midoriya, Todoroki, and Iida joined the two. "Looks like everything ended alright." Midoriya said.

"Yeah now for that conversation we planned." Shino said and then directed his gaze towards Iida before punching him on the head.

"How dare you lie to me like this?! I told you Stain was too strong for you to handle but noooo, you had to act unlike you and break the rules!" Shino scolded Iida who took it silently.

"You're right, I was blinded by my anger and grief and didn't want to listen to you when you offered me advice and even went as far as trying to distance myself from you and it almost cost me everything and put the lives of my friends in danger. But I promise you on the name of ingenium that I strife to be better and learn from this mistake so it would never happen to me or anyone else ever again."

"Good." Shino shook his head affirmatively while the rest chuckled, until Shino turned to Midoriya and chopped him on the head.

"Ow! What was that for? What did I do?" Midoriya asked as he rubbed his head.

"Didn't you promise me to stay away from trouble? What were you even doing in Hosu?" Shino asked sternly.

"The Nomu attacked the train me and my teacher were on. And I happened upon Stain while searching." That wasn't the complete truth but Midoriya wasn't going to tell Shino he was actively looking Stain even if it's what saved Iida's life.

"And your response was to fight him instead taking the injured and running and instead of calling the heroes you sent a massage only containing your location with no other details." In hindsight, Midoriya felt he could do better, looks like another area he needed to improve in.

It was Midoriya's turn to be laughed at, "He's right you now Midoriya." Todoroki commented but that drew Shino attention to him and he immediately regretted opening his mouth.

"He was facing down an enemy, why didn't you call any of the heroes to come with exactly?" Shino asked narrowing his eyes.

Todoroki took a step back, "They were all busy with the Nomu and I didn't know it was Stain he was facing." Shino looked into Todoroki's eyes and the dual-haired boy could feel his soul being tested until Shino looked away, "Fair enough." Was all he said and Todoroki regained the ability to breathe again.

As expected, the police had intended to fully punish the students, but after seeing what they had accomplished, their ages, and some persuasion from their instructors, they decided to let it slide on the condition that the credit for capturing Stain goes to Endeavour and that the student never talk about this incident to anyone. In addition, the heroes instructing these students would suffer some sort of punishment. The heroes didn't mind, they were partly to blame for their students' action but also felt some pride in them.

The news of the capture of the hero killer were everywhere by the end of the day. Many tried to link his appearance with the league of villains attack theorizing that Stain may have been part of the league or in allegiance with them. The police and heroes didn't stop these rumors from spreading since they weren't sure themselves and if it was true, it meant that they had a win against the league which was all the better. However, this rumor set in motion many things that nobody knew about at the moment, lead to many thing nobody could have predicted.

**Thank you for reading.**


	15. Chapter 15

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 15**

As promised, Gunhead's training became even more intense for the rest of the internship. Shino and Uraraka accepted the punishment as they knew what they did was legally wrong, but they didn't regret it even for a bit. They help their friend and caught a serial killer saving many potential victims, and if time rewound, they would make the same choice again. Also, with the intense training they could feel themselves become stronger, and it's not like Gunhead didn't give them sufficient break time, he was very supportive of his students. Aside from the training, nothing of note happened until Shino saw an advertisement of some hair product staring Yaoyorozu and a certain someone along with their instructor, Uwabami, and he laughed so hard that Uraraka Gunhead thought that the training did something to his head and even after he assured them he was fine they always gave him a weird look as if expecting him to burst in laughter again at any moment. He somehow suppressed the urge to bring it up whenever he talked with Kendo.

After the internships were over, everyone returned to school and immediately each of them started talking about how their internship went. Some went on missions with their instructors and some spent most their time honing their skills, and there were those who felt they wasted their time and gained next to nothing from their internship. However, the stars of the show and the ones everybody wanted to hear from were Midoriya, Iida, Todoroki, Uraraka, and Shino. While the fact that they were the ones who actually defeated Stain was kept top secret, the fact that their instructors were the ones fighting the Nomu and Stain meant that they surely had a piece of the action as well. Unfortunately, the group couldn't say much about the incident other than what the police had announced which was a huge disappointment for their classmates but they understood their conditions.

Classes continued as usual and eventually, lunch break came along, Shino went to the cafeteria and almost immediately was able to spot Kendo.

"Hey there super star." He greeted with a wide smile as he approached her.

She looked up and groaned knowing what direction the conversation will go if she left the boy to his own devices, despite that she couldn't help the happiness and relief she felt when seeing him again. Because of their internship they couldn't talk much, only able to make some small talk whenever the stars aligned and they had a break at the same time and it was getting somewhat frustrating for both of them, they had become a couple just recently and wanted to spend more time together.

"Don't even think about it." She warned him while pointing at him and narrowing her eyes.

"Fine, I won't, you're ruining my fun." He pouted and crossed his arms as sat down across from her and Kendo couldn't help but imagine a child throwing a tantrum and it was somewhat adorable to her.

"You're having fun at my expense." She sighed and shook her head, "Why do you get to fight monsters and serial killers while I'm stuck doing stupid advertisements and working as a secretary. And when Uwabami finally decided to go on patrol, she ended up just taking pictures with fans and signing autograph and didn't do any actual hero work." Kendo spread her arms on the table in disappointment and frustration.

"Hey meeting fans and signing autographs are important too, it lets the people know that you're there and doing your job. This gives them a sense of safety and security." Shino argued.

"Yeah but when it becomes the only reason you go out on patrol, then you're not any different than a famous actor or celebrity. We didn't get to do any actual hero work."

"I don't know if you should be wishing for trouble to happen, people could get hurt you know."

"I'm not asking for something big but to not have anything happen, not even a bag robbery, really frustrating."

"Well, you can think of this as a lesson in what not to do as a pro hero and appearing in that commercial must have gave you some popularity and you still saw a side of what being a hero is like, so it wasn't completely a waste." Shino tried to comfort Kendo and find anything good in the experience. She just eyed him for a second before smiling.

"This optimism of your is really something you know." After hearing his words, Kendo couldn't help but see the experience she deemed worthless in a different light. It was still what she hoped for but she did learn some things from Uwabami and she was grateful to Shino for helping her see this new angle.

"Thank you, I really try hard." The two laughed a bit before finally starting to eat their food.

"What about you? Aside from the Nomu and Stain incident, how was your internship?" It was Kendo's turn to ask.

"It was hard but very helpful, Gunhead's martial arts and training were so useful that I wished we had more time to learn more. But as expected, his style was mostly defensive meant for receiving attacks and retaliating as opposed to going on the offence."

"So, are gonna continue training in martial arts? Because if so, my offer still stands, I already talked to father about this and he said that can meet you." Kendo reminded Shino of the offer she made before the internship.

Shino put his finger on his chin and looked up thinking it over then returned to Kendo, "I think I will take up on that offer Kendo, just tell me when your father is ready to meet me."

"Great!" Kendo didn't hide her excitement but remembered something that she must tell Shino if he's to meet her father. "But you have to know, my dad can be a bit stern and strict with rules but once he warms up to you, he will loosen up."

"Your family knows about me right? Like you're not hiding it from them right?" Shino asked half joking and half worried.

"Of course they know, I wouldn't hide things from my family." Kendo answered and sounded like she was a bit offended by the question.

"Good, and don't worry, I have a feeling me and your father are gonna get along just fine." Shino assured her with smile and Kendo couldn't help but relax, that was the effect Shino's smile had on her.

After lunch it was now time for the heroics class with All-Might, unlike Aizawa, he was a little lenient with the students and decided the training would be something simple, a rescue race, where a group of students would be stationed at ground Gama, which was an industrial site filled with pipes and storage tanks creating an elaborate maze, and All-Might would act as civilian that needed rescuing, which was hilarious to Shino since what kind of civilian with All-Might's power would need rescuing, when the siren is heard the student had to reach All-Might as fast as possible.

It was here that Midoriya got show off his new technique to the rest of class. He called it Full Cowling and according to his explanation, thanks to Gran Torino's help he found a way to only use a percentage of his power and spread it all around his body, meaning that while his destructive power had decreased, his mobility had increased drastically and most important of all was that he no longer had to break his body every time he used his quirk. However, he hadn't practiced the technique for long and while he was proficient in it, he was prone to losing focus which cost him the first place. Nonetheless, he impressed everyone and angered one person.

The last class was just about some the effects quirks had on the community socially and somehow the topic of quirklessness came up.

"As you know, 20% of the population today are quirkless and that number is declining with each passing day." Aizawa said and Shino took a quick glance at Midoriya who had an uncomfortable look on his face. "Quirks have become a requirement for many jobs and those with the right quirk became a sought after resource while those who didn't struggled to earn a living. Now what do you think about this situation?" the teacher asked his students.

"I believe that discriminating against quirkless people is wrong. It was not their choice to be born with no quirk and they shouldn't be punished for it!" Iida said in a high voice while doing his usual robotic hand motion, finally the life returning to his face.

"But is it really discrimination to choose the person most fit for the job, quirks are like skills and it's natural to choose a person with the skills most beneficial for the job." Jiro presented a counter point.

"But quirk are not like skills," Yaoyorozu argued, "skills can be obtained with hard work but you can't train to gain a quirk." Midoriya coffed a bit at the last part but nobody noticed.

"Also many quirkless people have amazing talents that go unnoticed and unappreciated because of their quirklessness." Shino added.

"Talents like what exactly?" Kaminari asked.

"For example, my younger brother, Ken, is seven years old but is a genius, but he used to be bullied because of his quirklessness." Shino said with a lot of pride and a hint of anger.

Reactions varied between slight shock, sympathy, and anger, but it was Midoriya's reaction that caught everyone's attention. He perked up from his desk with shock on his face, "You said he used to be bullied. Do you mean it stopped?"

"Of course, do you think I would let my brother suffer while I can help it?" Shino questioned denying such a thing.

"How?" Midoriya asked in a pleading tone as if he was asking for water after being lost in the desert. Everyone's curiosity was also peeked and wanted to know as well.

"Let's just say I can be very persuasive." Shino said in awkward tone while scratching his cheeks and looking away. This only managed to raise the class's curiosity to the max. Now they had to know.

"It seems the rest of the class would like to know how your family handled this situation Shino. Bullying is one of the most common occurrences in schools and unfortunately the quirkless have become the primary target due to their general lack of strength to defend themselves." Aizawa used the class to hide his own curiosity since he was also bullied at a young age because his quirk made him no better than a quirkless person without training.

"I don't think you want or need to know this." Shino tried to dissuade them but it only served to make them more curios, only now they were getting ideas.

"Don't tell me you beat them up! That's so not manly at all!" Kirishima exclaimed and everyone started to entertain the idea.

"What!? No! DO I look like someone who would beat up kids!?" Shino defended himself.

"No, but you make it sound like you did something bad enough to be kept secret." Tsu said.

"It was, in sense." Shino murmured.

"Just fucking tell us already!" Bakugo shouted having had enough of the useless chatter and wanting to get it over with already.

"Fine, but you have to promise me that what I'm about to tell won't leave this room under any circumstances." Everybody promised and Shino sighed and started telling the story.

"It started a while ago and like any victim of bulling, Ken tried to hide it," Midoriya flinched a bit hearing this. "But I noticed and confronted him with Mother about, that's when he admitted and told us everything, he is a shy boy and the other children knew that and exploited it, calling him all kind of derogatory names and sometimes physically bullied him know that he won't tell anyone."

Everybody listening starting to get angry with every detail. They didn't know anyone who was quirkless but they would never call someone out because of something they had literally no control over let a alone hurt them.

"Children can be really cruel and dark." Tokoyami commented.

"It was easy to be found out, Ken was shy and never the type to do much physical activities so when I discovered many bruises on his arms and neck it was a matter of making him admit it. We were understandably angry and went to the school to complain."

"From the sounds of it, the school wasn't any help." Yaoyorozu guessed.

"Indeed, the principle and teachers gave us the usual bullshit excuses like they were just playing or it might have been an accident and Ken was blowing things out of proportion. But I could tell that they simply didn't care what happened to a quirkless orphan." Shino was gritting his teeth as he remembered their fake smiles and polite attitude as if they were doing everything they can.

"How awful. Why would they ignore such obvious abuse?" Uraraka said. Who could think that even the adults would act this way?

"Public schools on think about their reputation, if word got out that they had a bullying issue that would damage that reputation. They didn't want to risk it for one student and a quirkless one at that." It was Midoriya who answered Uraraka's question with a sad smile. The class fell silent for a moment as they all thought how cruel and biased the world could be, although there were two people who knew that already.

"Why didn't you just change schools?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"Indeed like Midoriya said, they only thought of their reputation and this problem is spread in all schools not just this one. And that reputation they held so dear is what I used to against them." Shino said and Midoriya turned to him with questioning eyes.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"Well first I bought two hidden cameras and voice recording devices that were small enough to hide." Shino started but was cut off by a question from Jiro.

"How did you get those exactly?"

"You can buy all sorts of thing online." He explained and she nodded in understanding.

"After they were delivered, I attached one of the hidden cameras to Ken's back bag and hid the other in his chest pocket and put the recorder inside the back bag and told him to act as usual in order get evidence that he was indeed bullied and it wasn't them playing or any of that bullshit."

"Good plan, now the principle won't have any excuses to defend himself. I don't see why you didn't want to talk about it. The law in Japan does not prohibit anything you did." Iida commented.

"Wait a bit and you'll see. After some days we had enough evidence to prove once and for all that Ken was bullied and identify who were the culprits. And so Ken compiled all the recordings into one montage and i went to confront the principle with it."

"Why didn't your mother go with you?" Shoji asked.

"Because I didn't want her to know about my backup plan." Shino answered simply.

"Backup plan? What backup plan?" Sero asked and Shino didn't replay and just gave them a wide smile and a bad feeling crawled on everyone's backs.

"When I showed the principle, he was of course very angry and started shouting how they were fake. All I told him that if he doesn't act to stop my brother's abuse, we will accuse him of neglecting his responsibility and ignoring this incident and make sure he loses his job. That's when he made the biggest mistake of his life." Everybody gulped know that they will discover what Shino's backup plan is.

"He said and I quote 'You think I'm scared of two unwanted orphan bastards and their sickly guardian. If you even try to do that, I will make sure to destroy that run down building you call a house over your heads!' and that was the last straw and I decided to show no mercy."

"What a despicable person, how did someone like that get entrusted the children?" Iida said angrily receiving shouts of agreement form the rest of the class.

"But what did you do?" Midoriya asked and everybody turned to Shino for the answer.

"I knew this Man was hiding something and so I stalked him and discovered that he got the position because his father-in-law was owned the school, and how did he repay that? He cheated on his wife almost every day. And so I got evidence on him with different women going into shady places and presented them in front of him." Everybody went silent as they contemplated what their classmate admitted to doing and Shino couldn't blame them but he didn't feel bad for what he did.

"Obviously, he was terrified and submitted immediately and since then, Ken never had a problem with bullies." Shino concluded the story and waited for everyone to swallow the information.

Iida was the first to talk, "While I'm sure everybody would agree that man was a scumbag and deserved to be punished, I feel like there would have been a more legal way to get justice. And even so you should have given these evidence to the cops."

Shino had a dark angry look on his face look, "This wasn't about justice, this was revenge. That son of a bitch knew my brother was suffering from bullies and did nothing about just to save his own name. The assholes that were bullying him were lucky they were kids." At that moment some of the students of class 1-A respected Shino for how he stood up to a corrupt system to help his brother while some couldn't help but fear him for the length he was prepared to go to achieve his goal. One lesson they all learned from this though, never miss with Shino's family.

"Regardless of the legality of this, everybody promised to keep this under wraps and we have no way to judge Shino for his actions so remember to keep this to yourselves." Aizawa is an underground hero, he knew that sometimes you had to bend the law to catch the villains and didn't judge Shino but took note of his actions.

After school was over, Shino walked with his friends, despite what they heard him say, they knew he was a good person who was prepared to do anything for his family.

"I'm sorry Shino, if I didn't insist on hearing about it, you wouldn't have had to tell that secret." Midoriya apologized.

"You don't have to apologize Midoriya, I don't regret what I did or feel bad about it. But if it's okay I would like an autograph then." Shino's request caught the group by surprise.

"Why do want Deku's autograph?" Uraraka tilted her head to look at Shino.

"Well, Ken is a huge fan of Midoriya since the sports festival and always asks me for his autograph but with everything happening I didn't get the chance to ask until now." This knowledge turned Midoriya red with embarrassment.

"A-A fan of M-Me? Why? What did I d-do?" His eyes were turning in swirls and he was stuttering like crazy.

"It might be that you advanced to the semifinals without using your quirk, Midoriya. Ken must have seen this as a sign that even with his quirklessness, he can still achieve great things." Iida deduced and Midoriya was getting redder by the second.

"That's right, he was so inspired by you that he no longer felt bad when the topic of quirks came up. While in the orphanage, we all made sure to treat him equally and make him feel at home, but others aren't so kind. Thanks to you he gained more confidence in himself and for that Midoriya I thank you." Shino bowed in front of Midoriya but the green haired boy couldn't believe it.

"What are you doing?! I'm sure I didn't have that much of an effect. However, I'm glad I helped even a little." Midoriya experienced a warm soothing feeling inside of him, the fact that his action helped someone in the same position he was in before made him so happy and a sense of pride came over him.

Shino stood up and looked his friend in the eye before smiling and starting to walk, he knew Midoriya was a humble person who didn't look for fame and credit and only wanted to help people. And for that, he was eternally thankful. "Sure, but I still want that autograph though."

"Fine, if it will make your brother happy." Midoriya got a piece of paper and wrote a small letter to the seven year old boy along with his autograph and gave it to Shino.

The days went by and the weekend came and Shino found himself in a staring contest with a man that looked to be in his late forties or early fifties wearing a white gi that was open in the chest area showing muscular the man was with a black belt, he had sharp eyes that were analyzing every part of Shino's body as if doing a physical examination and looking for openings or weaknesses, they were the eyes of an expert fighter. The man shared little similarities with his daughter, who was sitting next to him wearing a similar gi but dark blue in coloration and more reserved, except their eye color and hair although his hair was short and spiky. They were sitting in a dojo where Kendo's father practiced and trained martial arts, the place was attached to their house with only a door separating the two. In a sense, Shino was visiting Kendo's house.

"So, you're the boy my daughter chose huh?" The man said loudly in a gruff voice clearly trying to sound as intimidating as possible, which wasn't hard seeing his appearance.

"Yes Sir, I was lucky enough to meet your daughter and fall for her and even luckier that she returned those feeling. However, I did not come here as your daughter's boyfriend, that will wait for a different time, today I came asking to be your disciple." Shino chose his word carefully and spoke with calm smile. Despite that, he couldn't help the feeling he met the man before, the same feeling he had the first time he met Kendo, but this time it was much weaker, like a tug on the back of his head, and like before he decided to ignore it for now.

"I trust Itsuka's judgment, I trained her myself after all. She is a smart and strong girl and won't be fooled by some act a boy would make to impress her, so I won't question your character. However, why do you wish to train under me? Is it so that you can gain favor from me? Because if so, then I suggest you walk away now and keep your dignity."

"Of course not Sir, that is not why I came here. As you know, I too am training to become a hero, and for that I need to become much stronger to be able to protect the people around me. I've decided that pursuing martial arts was the best way to do so and to improve my quirk as well, and seeing Kendo's skill and strength, I thought that you would be the best choice for me." The man stared at him for a second and seemed to accept his reasoning.

"If that is the case then you wouldn't mind a small test will you? The test is simple, you have to survive ten hits from me and be able to stand on your feet afterwards. The use of quirks is not allowed in my dojo, so neither of us will be using ours."

Kendo's eyes widened and she turned to her father to see if he was serious, unfortunately he was. "Dad that's ridiculous! You're an expert and experience martial artist and he's just an amateur! How is that a test?!" She knew her father was strict but this was taking it to a different level.

"Itsuka, as I said I trust your judgment of his character, but his strength is for me to judge. I didn't say he had to win against me, just survive. If he is not strong enough to withstand ten strikes from me then he's not good enough to stand beside you." He said in calm tone and before Kendo could argue any further, Shino spoke.

"I accept Sir." Kendo turned to him with a worried expression but he gave her a confident smile.

"Good, I like that look on your face, but determination without strength to act on it is just wishful thinking." Kendo's father leaped from a sitting position and started with fast jab aimed at Shino's chest using his hands like spear. Fortunately, Shino's training with Gunhead helped him react fast enough to barely dodge the attack then flipped back to create some distance.

"That's number one." Shino said as he took his stance.

"Good, nine more to go. Let's see if you'll make it." The man said with smile.

He charged at Shino with blinding speed stemming from years for training and experience and readied for a punch. Shino was somehow able to block the attack, although it still did damage, and like Gunhead taught him, he proceeded to coil his arm around the man's arm to be able to twist it, but this was not some street thug but a martial artist.

"Your technique is decent." Before Shino completed his move, the man grabbed his arm with a steel grip and slammed him on the ground with a thud before going for an axe kick, but Shino managed to roll to the side avoiding the finishing move then jumped to his feet.

"That was three strikes, six left." Shino said with a strained voice.

The man attack once again and Shino raised his hands to block it but mid-strike, the man changed the trajectory of his fist so fast Shino couldn't react on time and received a punch to his side causing him to break his guard which led to receiving three punches to the chest and kick to the gut sending him flying to the ground.

Kendo was about to stand up and run to her boyfriend to check on him but he stood up looking exhausted but not too damaged. "One strike to go Sir." He said in raspy voice between heavy breathing.

Kendo's father smiled, "You've got spirit I'll give that kid. Many fell after less than three hits from me but you managed to survive nine so far. If you survive this last hit, not only will I accept you as my disciple but I will accept you as my daughter's partner." This caused Shino to straighten up and gave him a new reason for fighting, and gave Kendo a case of the tomato face.

He moved on the attack again with another jab and Shino once again tried to coil his arm around it. "This trick didn't work the first time what makes you think it would this time!" He moved to grab Shino arm but Shino wasn't worried, he was smiling. Before he could grab it, Shino retracted his arm and bent downwards then made a sweep with his leg aiming for his knees. The move surprised the elder Kendo but wasn't something he couldn't dodge as he jumped avoiding the danger. However, now that he was mid-air he could dodge and that's what Shino wanted. He moved fast to capitalize on the opening with an upper cut but what he failed to see was the kick coming his way, while the man couldn't dodge that didn't mean he couldn't attack.

The kick hit Shino square in the face sending him flying and this time he didn't immediately stand up. Kendo rush to his side to check on him and luckily that hit didn't knock him unconscious.

"Are okay Shino?" Kendo asked worried.

"I've been better." The joke told Kendo that he was okay as she sighed in relief.

"Can you stand up?" Was what she asked next. Shino tried to but couldn't stand up straight and needed Kendo's help to not fall.

"I think not, does that mean I failed the test?" Shino asked disheartened.

"My dad is strict even if you survived nine out of ten he won't compromise." Kendo said in sad tone as she looked to the ground.

"Congratulations Kid, you have passed the test." Said Kendo's father as he approached the two who were clearly shocked by his words.

"But I can't stand up without Kendo's help. I didn't survive the tenth hit." Shino couldn't help but feel incompetent.

"You did survive. That last kick was actually the eleventh hit, the tenth was the punch you blocked. I was surprised you would try to attack me and retaliated on instinct, but the fact that you're still conscious after that tells me you have a strong and sturdy body. You will make a fine disciple and partner to Itsuka." Shino and Kendo looked at each other in disbelief and hugged each other before her father coughed reminding them of his presence.

"Itsuka, take him to treat his head and take his measurements to get him a gi. Training starts from tomorrow. Listen Shino, I, Ichigo Kendo, will be your teacher for the foreseeable future and that's how you will address me during training." They both nodded and Kendo helped Shino walk to the dojo's infirmary.

This was the start of Shino's training, he would go four days a week to have the training drilled into him by his teacher and meet Kendo in the process, and this gave the two a lot of time to talk about their lives. Shino would often tell Kendo stories about his brothers' and sisters' antics and the trouble they threw him in and Kendo would talk about either some of the funny things that happened during training and anything worthy of mention that came to mind. This made them grow even closer to the point that Kendo had asked Shino to start calling her by her first name which as he heard was a big deal in a relationship. He happily complied.

The days went on and the finals were just a week away, and so student were all busy studying and training since their exams have a practical side too. As Aizawa entered the classroom to start class, he looked around the room and locked on Shino who was studying and called out to him to come.

"After school has ends, come with me to the principal's office. Don't tell anyone about this, understand." The teacher whispered the words and Shino couldn't help but feel worried which Aizawa noticed.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble but the topic we're going to discuss must remain a secret." Shino nodded and returned to his seat.

'_What could the principle even want from me that can't be let out? And despite Mr. Aizawa's words, he looked serious so it's not something small._' Shino kept wondering about the purpose of this sudden meeting but he will have to wait to find out.

**Thank you for Reading.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 16**

After school, Shino followed Aizawa to the principal's office and with each step Shino's worries grew until the door was opened and inside he found Itsuka sitting on a chair in front of what should be the principal's desk with Vlad King standing next to her and an empty chair on the other side presumably for him. From the looks of it, they had just arrived before them and Itsuka didn't seem worried and that alone removed all of Shino's worries as he moved to sit next to her.

"Hey there Itsuka, what are you doing here?" Shino asked.

"Mr. Vlad told me to come with him after school and not to tell anyone about it. I assume the same happened with you?"

"Yeah, Mr. Aizawa refused to tell me what's going on and it was getting on my nerves."

"We didn't do anything wrong so you shouldn't be nervous." Itsuka said.

"No Miss Kendo, you did nothing wrong at all." Came a squeaky voice from the chair behind the principal's desk and had its back to them that caught the two students by surprise because they didn't know someone was occupying it.

The door spun around revealing Nezu, the principal of U.A.

Shino and Itsuka stared at the creature before them, he looked like a mix between a dog, a bear, and mouse with white fur but didn't have enough similarities to classify him as any of them and Shino was feeling the signs of a headache if he kept thinking about it.

"Hello Miss Kendo, Mister Kazushige." Nezu greeted with a smile.

"Hello Sir." Both greeted back. "Sir please call me Shino." Shino added.

"Duly noted. I'm sure you're wondering why I asked to meet the two of you since you weren't told anything and I heard you discussing it a second ago." Shino and Itsuka nodded in acknowledgment.

"Well as I said, you are not in trouble, far from it actually, you're here because we require your assistance." The two teen couldn't hide their surprise. Why would the teachers and principal need them?

"What could you possibly need us for Sir?" Shino voiced the question that was in both of their minds.

"The two of you are fully aware of the relationship between the heroic course classes 1-A and 1-B, correct?" Nezu knew the answer to that question but was using it to start the conversation and to see the two's reaction.

Both Itsuka and Shino looked down feeling a bit guilty, they both were in the student council and should have done more to solve that problem but every time they tried, Bakugo and Monoma would ignite the flames of conflict once again. Nezu could see that on their faces but his smile didn't fall.

"You don't have to feel guilty about this, you're not to blame." The unknown creature said to comfort the two students who looked at him with a bit of surprise. "If anything, this is our fault as the teachers that the relationship between two classes reached such a state. We should have acted sooner. But that doesn't matter right now, what matters is what we're going to do now." Nezu placed his paws together in front of him with his elbows resting on the desk.

"But before I tell you what we're going to do about it, I want hear your opinion in the matter, what do you think is the cause of this problem we're having?"

The two didn't have to think much about it, it was obvious to anyone with a working set of eyes. "The core of the problem lays with Katsuki Bakugo and Neito Monoma. They're the ones escalating this problem." Shino answered.

"Their behaviors complement each other in the worst way possible and because of them, many other students were encouraged to act similarly. The rivalry between the two classes is good to better them but because of these two, the students resort to pranks and tricks instead of trying to better themselves." Itsuka added.

"And what do you think the cause of their behavior?" Nezu asked next and for that one, Itsuka had to think about it while Shino had an answer ready, he's been thinking about this for a while.

"In my opinion, Bakugo has a superiority complex bordering on a god complex while Monoma suffers from an inferiority complex." Shino's answer seemed to surprise Itsuka and the two teachers while intriguing Nezu.

"Bakugo's sense of superiority is clear to anyone, what makes you think that Monoma has an inferiority complex?" The principal asked and all eyes in the room were now on Shino waiting for his explanation.

"Well, unlike Bakugo, who always tries to prove his superiority either by never addressing people with their names as if they are lower than him or angering them to make them go all out against him so he can beat them at their best to prove he's better. Monoma is always trying to put people down, as if trying to drag them to his level which he seems to think is lower, and he never acts alone always having other people around him to confirm his words like he himself isn't sure while Bakugo always acts alone and never cares what people say or think." The looks of shock that were drawn the others, except Nezu, turned to thoughtful looks as they considered Shino's words and Nezu couldn't help but ask another question.

"Lastly, what do you think is the cause of their complexes, as you put it?" The question was directed at Shino but the rest of the room occupiers couldn't help but think it over themselves.

"It's the same cause for all the problems our society faces these days, Quirks." Nezu's smile grew and he nodded signaling Shino to elaborate.

"Quirks have become a central building block that everybody's lives are built upon and could decide what choices life offered them. Many people are judged purely based on their quirks, their future decided for them by that one detail that they had no control over, or it could be that because they had no control over that many considered it a sign of destiny, so it stands to reason that they would be the cause of this as well." Nezu nodded along as he and the other three in the room listen closely.

"I think that it all started when they were children, as most psychological issues do. Because of his great quirk and great potential, Bakugo was probably praised and pampered by everyone around him adults and children alike, he was given everything he wanted and was never punished for any misbehavior, nobody wanted to get in the way of a future hero who was surely gonna make it big. This created a sense that he was above anybody else since he was given special treatment." Shino allowed himself to breath before continuing.

"Monoma on the other hand, while having a very versatile quirk, was very limited by the people around him. If there was no useful quirk in his immediate vicinity, then he was as good as quirkless, a fact that I think he was reminded of constantly by his peers and the people around him, which created a sense that he was below them since he completely relied on others to be of any use and for a limited time. I think he didn't want to accept that but thinking he could never rise to their level, he decided to make them fall to his level instead. Of course everything I said is just theories and hypothesis based my observations and limited knowledge of the human psyche." By the end of it, everyone was staring at Shino in awe and Nezu started applauding.

"Wonderful, if you weren't a student here I would have recommended you to a psychological institute to study there." Nezu complemented the boy who couldn't help but feel some pride.

"So you're saying that there is nothing we can do?" Vlad King asked, a bit worried about the future of his class.

"Of course there is, since coming here, Bakugo's way of thinking has been challenged more than once and he's slowly starting to see the problem. If the same was done to Monoma, I believe that the two are smart enough to realize that their behavior can't be allowed to continue for their sake more than anything else. The problem would be that they are too stubborn to admit it. And the same could be said for everyone else." Shino explained and everyone nodded in understanding.

"And that finally brings us to why we asked the two of you here." Everyone's attention switched to Nezu.

"You both know that the finals are coming." They both nodded. Their teachers had already talked about them earlier that day and about the training camp that will be held afterwards, but Aizawa added, in typical Aizawa fashion, that students who fail the tests will not be allowed to come. This was done to make his students go all out, which worked because after that everyone started planning study groups and mapping their training schedule to make themselves better by the time of the exams out fear of the consequences of failing more than the desire to reap the benefits of passing.

"We plan to use this opportunity to show the students that they should not fight amongst themselves and instead band together. But for that we need an example, to show that it is possible and we have chosen the two of you for that roll." Both Shino and Itsuka couldn't help their shocked expressions.

"But the exams are supposed to be this big secret that no one knows what they will be about. Are you going to tell us or are we supposed to enter blindly?" Itsuka asked.

"We will tell you what you need to know but not everything. All you need to know is that it's a team-based test where two students will be paired together to achieve a goal and that's all. Of course you two will be a team." Nezu could see the two students' look of unsatisfaction and he couldn't blame them, this was next to nothing in terms of knowledge but it's all he could give them.

Aizawa stepped up deciding to give the two teens some peace of mind, "Don't give us that look you two, the others don't even know who their paired with. But considering your situation and the fact that we want you not only to pass but also show a level team work while all the students see your match, you'll have your test in the day after the others have had theirs and will be allowed to watch their matches." He watched as they relaxed a little.

"Of course you can always refuse, but think about what's at stake here before you decide." Shino and Itsuka looked at each other and could tell the other was thinking the same thing.

"We accept." They both said in unison.

"Great! That will be all for now, of course you can not talk about this to anyone, understand." They both nodded and got off their chairs and out of the room.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Itsuka asked Shino as they walked the corridors heading to the main gate.

"We'll have to work on our teamwork while still developing our quirks, not to mention studying for the written exams." They released a deep sigh as the reality of their situation was becoming clearer.

"We can use the dojo for the teamwork training, I'm sure my dad will be happy to help. We could also study together during breaks." Itsuka suggested.

"That would be good, quirk training would have to be done solo since our quirks and the way we develop them are very different." Shino added.

"We could spend some time trying to figure out what the exam could be about. I heard that it was a fight against the robots from the entrance exam last year, could it be the same this year too?" Itsuka informed Shino and he looked up while pinching his chin looking like he was thinking it over then lowered his head and shook it.

"I don't think so, they already used them in both the entrance exam and the sports festival, if there was anything we knew for sure about U.A., it's that they like to surprise their students."

"Well, we have a week to think about it, we should focus now on actually training to be strong enough for whatever they have in store for us." Itsuka said and Shino nodded in agreement.

The following week was dedicated to training and studying, Mr. Ichigo was more than willing to provide an opponent to the two to practice with as well as give them instructions on how to fight as a team more efficiently. They would also study after each training session, but because the dojo was usually filled with other trainees on week days, they had to go to Itsuka's house to get away from the noise.

The house, despite it relatively large size wasn't anything out of the ordinary, until they got to Itsuka's room. It was double the size of Shino's room, which said more about his room then hers, and was decked out with a mix of martial arts posters and motorcycle photos and she had a small TV with a stack of movie cases next to her bed, her desk was organized with new blueprints rolled and stacked to the side along with some of her equipment and motorcycle parts in one corner and on the other was…a coffee machine? She had a coffee machine in her room? Shino couldn't help but be impressed. Itsuka, despite having a boy in her room, and her boyfriend at that, was calm. It might have been because of how forward Shino is, but she didn't get embarrassed by him being there, although she did keep taking glances at him to see his impression of her room.

"Gotta say, I'm impressed Itsuka." Shino said after whistling.

"Thanks, now let's get to work." She couldn't stop her smile though and the fuzzy feeling in her chest.

The days went by with the couple's training and studying progressing smoothly, and they were now on Saturday with the exams starting on Monday. They decided that today they were gonna do final afternoon training and study session and leave Sunday to relax before the exams and recover to make sure they were at peak condition. However, Shino was late for some reason which worried Itsuka because he didn't answer his phone.

"It's been an hour, at this point he might not be coming." Said the elder Kendo.

"It's not like him to be late, and he's not answering his phone, I hope nothing bad happened." She clutched the phone closer to her.

Right on cue, Shino came running through the door. "Sorry I'm late, something happened and I couldn't catch up to the train." He apologized immediately but Itsuka was worried about something else.

"Is everything alright? Did something bad happen?" She asked and after a moment to take his breath he answered.

"Nothing big, my sister just decided today was a good day to get stuck on high tree." The looks of bewilderment on the two Kendo's didn't surprise Shino and he quickly started to explain.

"Kiname is five years old and her quirk 'Hair Wire' means she has long thin steal wires for hair that she can control in a variety of ways, and she really loves to use it to climb trees, and I mean you would think she had second quirk that gave her the mind of a monkey or something. Today she decided to climb the highest tree in the park which she did." Shino said that last part with pride. "Unfortunately, while she was going down, the wires got tangled and stuck on a branch. I spent the last three hours trying to untangle her. In the end, I decided to just cut the branch off, but then I got scolded for it by the park guard and had to pay a fine for destroying public property and then take Kiname home before coming here." The two listening to the story couldn't help but laugh at the boy's misfortune.

"Why didn't you just cut her hair?" Itsuka asked between laughs.

"No way! She loves her hair too much, she would kill me if I even damage it!" the laughter continued even louder. To think that someone who strives to be a hero and has survived multiple battles with actual villains would be scared of a five-year old.

Shino crossed his arms and pouted, "Now who's having fun on the other's expense?" but he soon joined on the laughing. They soon got down the training.

Monday finally came along and with it the start of the written portion of the exams, which to many students was the worst part, some thought it was boring but necessary. Yaoyorozu and Iida on the other hand, loved exams and were the only two genuinely excited for them. To Shino exams were nothing special and weren't anything hard as he breezed through them.

Everybody managed to make it through the written exams with some being too close for comfort but still making the cut. The practical portion was in the next day and it was what all the student were both excited for and feared the most.

On the day of the exam, the students arrived at the class room to leave their bags and take their hero costumes, everybody except Shino.

"Why haven't you changed yet Shino? You'll be late if you don't start now." Iida instructed his friend.

"Actually, I'm not gonna take the exam with you guys." Shino informed the class and to say they were shocked would be putting it lightly.

"What?!" "Why?!" "Did something happen?!" "Is that why Mr. Aizawa was talking to you in private?!" Were all questions they threw at Shino.

"It's nothing guys, I'll just have my exam on a different day, that's all." The class visibly calmed down.

"Wait, then why are you here then?" Kaminari asked.

"To watch of course." Shino answered in matter-of-fact tone.

"Why do you get to watch our exams? Isn't that like cheating or something?" Jiro questioned with a disapproving tone and everybody joined with her.

"It's because his test is unique." Came Aizawa's voice from the behind the group.

"How so?" Asked some of them.

"That's classified information, you'll find out in time." Aizawa answered in an even tone.

"What the hell?! Why does he get special treatment?" Bakugo asked.

"It's not special treatment, he just has more conditions for passing. If I were you I wouldn't envy him. Now all of you, head to the bus so we can get this over with." The pro hero said before turning and leaving the room with the students following behind.

After getting into the bus and going to the entrance leading to the different site owned by U.A. they were greeted by many of the teachers who were all standing at the entrance with huge smiles on their faces.

"Why are the teachers here? Are they here to watch our exam?" The class president asked Aizawa as the rest of the students filtered out of the bus but the man didn't answer, instead he just walked over to the teachers' side.

"No they're not." A voice came from Aizawa's scarf that Shino recognized all too well. It was principal Nezu who came out of the scarf he somehow concealed himself in. needless to say, everyone was surprised to see the white-furred creature and kept staring at him as he got down and stood with the teachers as well.

"Then why are they here then?" Midoriya was the one ask.

"Why?" Came another, much louder, voice from above as All-Might descended in front of the students. "Because, they ARE the exam." All-Might said with wide smile doing his usual hero pose.

"WHAT?!" Class 1-A, including Shino, all screamed in shock at once. They all glanced at Shino to see the same expression of utter shock on his face.

"Why are you shocked? Didn't you know?" Asked Ashido.

"Like hell I did! They told me nothing about what's gonna be in the exam!" Shino shouted still in shock.

"Now to tell you all about the rules of this exam." Nezu said with smile. "You'll be separated into groups of two with each group going against a teacher. Your objective is to either capture your enemy using these special cuffs we've prepared, or to escape through the gates. Each group will be placed in a different site and each site has only one exit that will obviously be guarded by the teacher who all will be wearing weighted bracelets to give you some a fighting chance and the time limit is 30 minutes. Each group, the teacher they will face, and the site of their exam were all chosen after careful consideration so keep that in mind." With the last part, Nezu made quick glance at Shino which didn't go unnoticed by the boy, as was intended.

'_So they also chose our opponent too. I must watch the others carefully, I don't know who it is so I must keep a close eye on everyone._' Shino thought as he and the rest of the class went to the entrance. In there, the teams were announced to them and each team went with their teacher to be escorted to the site of their exam.

Shino on the other hand, went to the surveillance room, which was a very big room, where Recovery Girl was already there watching through the multiple screens the students reach their destination and get ready to start.

The match ups were as follows:

Tenya Iida and Mashiro Ojiro vs Power loader

Tsuyu Asui and Fumikage Tokoyami vs Ectoplasm

Rikido Sato and Eijiro Kirishima vs Cementoss

Ochaco Uraraka and Yuga Aoyama vs Thirteen

Kyoka Jiro and Koji Koda vs Present Mic

Mina Ashido and Denki Kaminari vs Nezu

Momo Yaoyorozu and Shoto Todoroki vs Eraser Head

Hanta Sero and Minoru Mineta vs Midnight

Mezo Shoji and Toru Hagakure vs Snipe

Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo vs All-Might

Shino honestly felt bad for Midoriya, not only was he paired with the one person who hated his guts in class but had to fight the number one hero and his idol to pass the test. Of course, Bakugo acted as Bakugo would and went on his own to fight All-Might head on, Shino couldn't hear what they were saying could tell that the duo was already fighting among themselves before All-Might even Showed up and got worse when he did. Obviously, Bakugo was no match for All-might and quickly turned from an angry Teenager with a superiority complex to a screaming punching bag who surprisingly didn't lose consciousness after getting the crap beaten out of him while Midoriya watched in horror before be knocked away by All-Might every now and then. Shino knew it was all a plan to temper Bakugo's anger and teach him that some foes are too strong to fight alone, but using Midoriya like that didn't set well with him.

The other teams weren't doing any better, Kirishima and Sato were destroying wall after wall just for Cementoss to create more of them with no end in sight, while Mina and Kaminari were running for their lives from a laughing Nezu operating a wrecking ball who was destroying all the building in his bath but in systematic way to cut off all possible pathways to the exit. Uraraka and Aoyama were hanging for dear life trying not to get sucked in by Thirteen's quirk. Jiro was having major trouble matching the strength of Present Mic's voice which drove away all animals making Koda virtually useless. Yaoyorozu and Todoroki were playing hide and seek with Aizawa with the odds stacked against them. Sero and Mineta weren't doing any better with Sero succumbing to Midnight's sleep gas and Mineta hiding like a rabbit from her predatory eyes.

On the other hand, Tokoyami and Tsu were faring quite well against Ectoplasm with Dark Shadow going on the offence while Tsu had his and Tokoyami's back with her High mobility. Shoji and Hagakure were doing a good job with dodging and hiding from Snipe's bullets while Shoji searched for the pro's location. In addition, Iida and Ojiro weren't doing badly against Power Loader's traps and mines.

Shino glanced once again to Midoriya and Bakugo to see that they somewhat had a plan, and judging by Midoriya carrying Bakugo's gauntlet, it was a reckless one. Using Bakugo as a distraction, Midoriya was able to get behind All-Might and blast him point blank, which managed to stun him and using this opportunity, the two boys ran towards the gates.

It was a fine plan, and against any other opponent it might have worked perfectly, but not All-Might. It took him an instant to recover, another instant to catch up to the two heroes-in-training, and a third to destroy the gauntlets and again beat the crap out of them. Despite the handicap, All-Might's power and speed were unrivaled. Bakugo ended up under All-Might's foot while Midoriya was bit luckier and was only held by the arm flailing like a fish before being thrown to the side.

"Holy crap! How strong is he?!" Shino asked in awe to no one in particular.

"He's not the number one hero for nothing." Recovery Girl answered anyway.

"No Kidding!" '_I wonder if Midoriya would grow to be this strong._' Shino couldn't help but ask himself.

A huge blast returned the two's attention to the screen and Shino knew the source all too well. It was Bakugo unleashing the biggest explosion he could muster which caught All-might by surprise and was strong enough to knock him of Bakugo but came at the cost of sharp stabbing pain all over Bakugo's arm. Despite that, he managed to get to Midoriya and using a smaller explosion threw him towards the gate. Unfortunately, that only made his back vulnerable against a butt-attack from All-Might which looked Painful but Shino could help but chuckle a bit at the weird attack.

Bakugo came at All-Might again with another big explosion that looked more painful to Bakugo than to All-Might while yelling at Midoriya, probably telling him to go to the gate. It turned into a struggle with Midoriya slowly moving towards the gate clearly pained by the last attack and Bakugo blasting All-Might with one big explosion after the other. But even Bakugo had his limits and eventually was caught by All-Might and couldn't throw another blast as he was barely conscious at this point. That's when something happened, Midoriya who was very close to the gate, finally managed to activate his full cowling but instead of jumping to the gate, he rushed at All-Might punching him with everything he had then snatched the now unconscious Bakugo and made a run for it. All-Might was about to go after them but it seemed his time limit was up as steam started emitting from him.

Despite having probably the hardest match, Midoriya and Bakugo were the first to pass the exam.

"Looks like I have a job to do." Recovery Girl said as she got up from her chair clearly annoyed.

"Have fun." Shino said sarcastically waving her off. After a while Midoriya joined him in the observation room.

"Good job Midoriya, you're the first to pass." Shino congratulated the boy who looked tired and ready to sleep but also very happy and relieved.

"Thank Shino, how is everyone else doing?" He asked as he came to Shino's side.

"From the looks of it, they're about to finish too, for better or worse."

The two watched with Tokoyami and Tsu managing to place the cuffs on Ectoplasm. Uraraka and Aoyama barely passed when Aoyama said something to Uraraka which turned her face red causing her to let go and head towards Thirteen who was forced to stop the black hole as to not hurt the girl but what she didn't expect was Gunhead's training to kick in as soon as she got close and in an instant, Thirteen was on the floor cuffed, Although no one knew what Aoyama said, Shino had an idea.

Jiro and Koda managed to pass too after Koda unleashed the insects living underground on Present Mic which freaked him out so much that he passed out. The others watching through screens weren't any better off. Shino actually went to the bathroom to vomit and both Uraraka and Tsu were petrified in fear while Midoriya cringed as the thought of being in the same position sent a chill down their spines, Tokoyami just looked away in disgust.

Shoji and Hagakure managed to locate Snipe and with Hagakure being invisible, she snuck up on him while he was focused on Shoji and placed the cuffs and they both passed.

Iida and Ojiro got past all Power Loader's traps with Iida running as fast as he could while Ojiro used his tail to steer him in the right direction and passed through the gates while Yaoyorozu and Todoroki managed to lure Aizawa into a trap and using a capture tool similar to his made by Yaoyorozu and heat from Todoroki were able to capture him. What's important is the look Yaoyorozu had on her face which was one of rejuvenated confidence in herself.

Not everyone was successful however, Kirishima and Sato were overwhelmed by the Cementoss's waves and lost while Ashido and Kaminari were trapped by Nezu's systematic assault and had no way out.

While Mineta managed to surprise everyone and get past Midnight, trapping her with his sticky balls, mostly because she underestimated him, like you do, Sero who was sleeping the entire time and was dragged by Mineta to the gate was considered as failing. On the bright side, he probably had the best sleep of his life on Midnight's lap, something Mineta swore to never forgive him for.

After all the matches were over, the students and teachers gathered at the observation room.

"Despite all of you finishing your exams, we ask that you come here tomorrow again." Said Nezu.

"Why Sir?" Asked Iida standing in front of his fellow students.

"As you know, Shino has not taken his exam yet and his conditions are different than yours, one of those conditions is that you all will be watching his match. There is no choice here." Aizawa was the one to answer in a commanding voice.

Unsurprisingly, the students were confused by this and all turned to Shino for answers but before they could talk, Aizawa spoke again. "Don't try to pry the answers out of him, he was told to not talk about it or else he'll fail the exam immediately." It was a lie but it did the job of stopping any integration since the class didn't want to cause Shino any trouble.

After everybody went their separate ways to return home, Shino met up with Itsuka and she didn't have the best of expressions, not that he did.

"We're screwed." He said bluntly.

"Totally." She replied.

"What're we gonna do now then?" She asked.

"What else can we do but our best." He said with a small smile that didn't hide how worried he was.

"Hopefully that would be enough." She said wearing the same smile as they both headed to dojo.

"Hopefully."

**Thank you for reading.**

**AN: Hey there everyone, I have an announcement! But first let me say this, I am not a psychologist nor do I know about this stuff, though I have an interest in it. So apologizes if the psychological analysis I just dumped on you in this chapter is incorrect. Also, I know most of this chapter was just stuff from the anime with little-to-no changes but the information in it were important for next chapter. Speaking of next chapter, on to the announcement! This week was good to me and so I was able to write more than usual and so we'll have a double upload this week, so expect chapter 17 to drop tomorrow or the day after at most.**


	17. Chapter 17

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Oi Teme: Your right, although the school doesn't know about them dating, the two of them were the only one from the two classes to work together during the sports festival, and they both went pretty high in it. In addition, they are well liked in their classes and are part of the students council which made them the perfect choice for the mission.**

**Chapter 17**

The next day rolled along and with it the day of Shino's exam. As requested, all students of class 1-A gathered in the class but only one of them had to change into his hero costume. After that, they rode the bus just as they did the day before. However, they were surprised to find class 1-B have also gathered at the entrance.

"What are doing here?" Awase of class 1-B asked while pointing at class 1-A's direction. He is a boy with black spiky hair that's pointing upwards, grey eyes that were wide with surprise at the moment, and a patterned headband.

"That's what we should ask!" Kaminari shouted while pointing back. "Are you here to ruin the exam for Shino with one of your tricks?" He said accusingly.

"Why would we come here just to pull a prank on you? Are you people really that self-centered?" Monoma took the chance to attack class 1-A receiving shouts of support from his classmates.

"You came to our class and pulled many pranks before what makes now different?" Jiro supported Kaminari.

"Didn't do the same?" Tsuburaba countered. He is boy with short spiky brown hair and oval shaped eyes with large pupils.

"We were countering your attacks on our class!" Ashido joined her two friends. Soon enough it escalated to a verbal fight between the two classes with the students separating into ones who were joining the fight, ones trying to stop it, and ones that wanted no part in either group. Shino and Itsuka were standing next to each other in their hero costumes just watching in annoyance the chaos unfolding in front of them. Just when Shino had enough and was about to put an end to it all, Aizawa, Vlad King, and Nezu came out of the building after getting everything ready for the exam.

"Enough!" Vlad King shouted alarming the students to his and the two other teachers' presence as Aizawa released a deep sigh and Nezu kept with usual smile.

"You're all here for the same reason, to watch these two's exam." He pointed at the only two students wearing costumes.

Each class looked at the student of the other class with surprise as they didn't notice them beforehand.

Iida was the first to voice the question everyone had in their minds at the moment, "What do you mean Sir?"

Vlad King cleared his throat with a small coif before continuing to talk, "This problem between the two classes has gone too far and is now a threat to your progress both as students and heroes-in-training. We have chosen Shino and Kendo as an example to show the lot of you how you how should behave and cooperate with each other instead of this needless fighting." There were complaints from both classes but he ignored them and motioned for Shino and Itsuka to head to the bus that will take them to the exam site.

The rest of the students got inside to the observation room but couldn't stop giving each other death glares, with obvious exceptions.

Iida approaches Vlad King again, "Sir, we were told that Shino's and Kendo's was different, but so far it's been the same, what's the difference exactly?" This brings grabs the attention of the students of both classes.

"In your exam, you had thirty minutes to either put the cuffs on your opponent or for one of you to escape. The rules haven't changed much, only that now for them to pass, both of them have to go through the gate together or be able to stand after cuffing teacher." This put into perspective the difference in difficulty as tactics like one sacrificing himself so the other could go through the gate or any attacks that endangered the user were out of the question.

After getting off the bus the two started doing stretches as they waited for the exam to begin, their exam site was the forest and their opponent was…Aizawa.

"Are you ready Itsuka?" Shino asked his partner.

"I think so, what can tell about Mr. Aizawa's fighting style?"

"He specializes in stealth and silent take downs and using his capture tool he can catch almost any villain, if we get caught in it, it might be game over for us. He can also hold his own very well in direct combat although it's not his strongest suit, and he not good with long battles. Also, we can't forget his quirk 'Eraser' allows him to cancel any quirk he gazes at except mutant type quirks, so we're both affected by it, and because of the goggles he wears you won't be able to tell where he's looking." Shino finished relying his information to Kendo but noticed something in her costume.

"Looks like they chose a tough one for us, and the site works to his advantage too." Itsuka concluded.

"Yeah. Say, why aren't you wearing any support gear? With your quirk, I could think of several things that would help boost your abilities like gauntlets or something." Shino asked quiet curious.

"When I enlarge my hands, most gloves or gauntlets would be destroyed and weapons aren't really my thing." Itsuka explained.

"Hmm, I see." '_Note to self, visit Hatsume and see if there is something that could be made for Itsuka._' Shino thought to himself as the start of the exam was announced.

Immediately, the team moved out and headed towards the gate. "So, we're trying to draw him out." Stated Itsuka as she enlarged her hands.

"Yeah, if we give him the chance to take the initiative, we might lose from the beginning." He created two spiraling desks that floated above his hands. "Keep an eye for your hands, that's how Todoroki and Yaoyorozu detected him and that's what we'll use."

As they approached the gate, they could feel movement in the trees around them and the chilling sensation that someone is watching them, but they couldn't locate him, until he made his move.

It started when they started to see the signs of the gate as it got bigger and bigger with every step. Suddenly, Shino's desk fell to the ground, that told him Aizawa was making his move but when he turned around to warn Itsuka, he found her get hit with a heavy kick from the pro hero with her hand in normal size, and though she was guarding, the kick was hard enough to knock her back into a tree. However, Shino noticed that Aizawa's head wasn't facing him and he took the opportunity to gain control over his desks and launch them at the man clad in black. Unfortunately, it was a simple attack that Aizawa saw through easily as he used his capture tool to latch on to a tree and pull himself out of the way then using it to propel himself at Shino with a kick.

Shino barely managed to dodge but he wasn't out of the danger zone yet as Aizawa began his assault on the boy only using his quirk in critical moments or when he saw Shino trying to conjure or manipulate anything. Without the use of his quirk and subsequently his hands, Shino couldn't defend himself against Aizawa's barrage of punches and kicks but through it he could see Itsuka approaching from behind and knew what to do.

"Is this all you can do without your quirk?" Aizawa taunted.

"No, I can do this too." Shino quickly bent down and did a low sweep with his leg forcing Aizawa to jump in order to dodge. In that moment, Itsuka made her move charging full force at the hero stuck in mid-air with a large fist ready to deliver a powerful punch that would surely have done some serious damage to Aizawa, if he didn't use his capture tool to latch yet again to a branch above him and used the momentum of her punch to swing and come from behind her kicking her back adding to her momentum and sending her flying. Fortunately, Shino used the moment Aizawa wasn't looking at him and that he was already in a crouching position to touch the ground then erect spikes all over the place both to hide from Aizawa and prevent him from going down easily with one of the spikes made so Itsuka could grab it and use it to descend unharmed. This worked for Aizawa as well since his eyes were starting to burn from overuse of his quirk as he retrieved to the trees.

The students at the observation room were watching the match with great interest. "They only managed one hit on Mr. Aizawa and it wasn't even that effective while he scored some good hits on both of them. If Shino didn't raise those spikes, they might have had already lost." Iida commented. This however seemed to agitate some of class 1-B.

"You say it like he saved the day, but aside from those spikes, he was pretty useless and it was kendo who delivered that punch." Monoma said in a mocking manner.

Before class 1-A could counter, Midoriya brought everyone's attention to the screen which showed Shino checking up on Itsuka then them talking. "They look like they're discussing something."

"They're probably making a plan to either evade Mr. Aizawa and reach the gate, or to capture him." Todoroki said.

They couldn't hear what they were saying but it looked like Itsuka was telling Shino something only for Shino to freak out.

"What's happening? Are they having a fight in the middle of the exam?" Yaoyorozu questioned with worry.

"If your guy causes Kendo to fail with his incompetence, we'll kick his ass!" Class 1-B threatened.

"You don't know what you're talking about! Shino is anything but incompetent and he would never do such a thing." Class 1-A defended their classmate.

Back with the team, Shino was having a hard time accepting Itsuka's plan. "No! We're not doing that!" Shino shouted.

"We have to, Shino. I know you know that there is no way we're escaping Mr. Aizawa, the only way to pass is to capture him and that's the best way to do so." Itsuka tried to convince Shino, but he was having none of it.

"Do you know what could happen to you if I miss up even a little? I don't care about passing if it means endangering you! And even if it works if you're injured we won't pass." Shino countered Itsuka's argument.

"That's only if I get injured, but I won't." Itsuka said with a warm smile.

"And how do you know that? How do you know I won't miss up?" Shino question her confidence.

"Because I trust you not to, I know that you'll give it everything you've got so you won't miss up." Itsuka held his hand and squeezed them tightly and she could feel his pulse slowing down as he relaxed.

"Spinning my words against me, clever." Shino released a sigh. "Fine, let's do it. But please be careful, don't move against it or make unexpected movements, release your body and let me guide you." Shino finally yielded but gave Itsuka a final warning, and with a nod and a smile from her, he started enacting the plan.

At the observation room, the two classes were engaged in another verbal fight and just when Vlad King was about to interfere once again, something happened on the screen that caught everyone's attention.

On the screen, Shino was manipulating the gold that made some of the spikes surround him and the gold started to envelop Itsuka.

"What the hell is he doing to Kendo?" Tetsutetsu asked concerned.

"I don't know, but it doesn't seem to be an accident, maybe that's their plan." Iida said.

They watched as the gold completely covered the girl, then were surprised when the gold started taking shape until it became an armor covering Itsuka's arms until her elbow, her legs until her knees, her chest and waist, and a helmet that allowed her pony tail out. The armor looked very similar to the armor Shino made during the sports festival.

"Did…Did he make her an armor out of gold? That's so awesome!" Testutetsu exclaimed while shaking his hands in excitement.

"I know right! That armor looks so manly!" Kirishima said in the same amount of excitement and the two classes could finally agree on something, that armor looked cool and Itsuka looked cool in it.

"But what's the use of this added weight?" Monoma dampened the mood once again.

"And the idiot made one for her and not for him, what's the fucking point?" Bakugo added.

"It must be a part of their plan, we'll just have to wait and see." Iida countered the two.

"Yeah, see them fucking fail, that's what we're gonna see." Bakugo shot back before walking away to a corner to stand alone.

After Shino finished creating the armor he waited for Itsuka to open her eyes and give him her opinion on his creation. She looked at her new armor and was more than impressed but with no time for compliments, she just gave Shino a thumbs up and he nodded.

"Now we need to draw out Mr. Aizawa." Said Shino as he looked around at the top of the trees try to find any sign of the teacher.

"He'll probably come out if we start running to the gate again." Itsuka said but before they could even move, the teacher in question appeared once again, but this time went for Shino first making sure to cancel his quirk while keeping an eye out for Itsuka. However, this time, Shino had anticipated this and before losing the ability to move his hands, he rolled one his hands into fists while straitening the other so he would at least be able to fight with them compared to the weird position they were in the first time, he still couldn't use most of the defensive moves he learned from Gunhead since they required gripping the opponent which he couldn't do now, but that wasn't his job anyways, he was simply the distraction.

Shino received a direct kick from Aizawa but before the teacher withdraw to attack from another angle, Shino wrapped his arms around his leg and used his hands as locks to hold the lanky man in place, Aizawa wasn't gonna win a strength contest so he tried to knock him back with a powerful kick from his other leg but Shino tanked it not even budging. Shino then gave Aizawa a devilish grin that somewhat shocked him although Shino couldn't see it.

"Gotha!" Shino exclaimed and in that instant, Aizawa could feel something approaching him, or rather someone, it was Itsuka with a ready fist coming at him. He had made an error in judgment think that she won't be able to keep up in that armor without Shino helping her, but it was clear that she was more than capable. He didn't get time to regret it however as Itsuka's fist collided with his side sending him flying towards a tree, Shino had already released his hold at the instant of contact. Even the people watching from the surveillance room couldn't help but make pained sounds and faces imagining how painful that would be.

However, Aizawa was sturdy and one punch wouldn't take him out no matter how painful it was, and it was painful. He once again used his capture tool and wrapped it around a tree and used it to swing and land on the ground safely. No sooner had he done that, Itsuka came charging at him with a determined face, her speed was greater than before and Aizawa guessed it was thanks to her armor, meaning that Shino was giving her a hand but since Shino had to see what he was doing which meant he was close by, but he couldn't see him anywhere. What he didn't know was that Shino wasn't giving Itsuka a hand, he was controlling her movements, and using the teacher's old hiding place a top the trees and his black and gold costume blended well with the tree shadows as he observed the fight. Aizawa dodged Itsuka's barrage and tried to move to a safe place to search for Shino but Itsuka kept getting in his way, she might not be fast enough to hit him but she was fast enough to keep up with him and keep him focused on her.

"Enough of this." Aizawa said clearly irritated by the girl's trailing, and gave her his full attention, deciding that she was a higher priority than the one giving her a hand.

"Bring it!" Itsuka exclaimed as the two opponents charged at each other.

However, right when they were about to clash, Aizawa shot his capture tool to a tree on his side and used it to swing to the right avoiding Itsuka's attack and coming from her side and delivering a kick with both legs that sent her to the ground before he descended in front of her. She quickly got up and charged at him again, Aizawa kept dodging all her admittedly well-placed punches and kicks and took a step back which prompted her to take a step forward trying put pressure on him, but in her rush didn't notice that when he took that step, he threw something on the ground, he had thrown a bunch of caltrops in her way. While there was no way for them to penetrate the armor, their irregular shape caused Itsuka to lose her balance when she stepped on them creating the opening he wanted and in an instant, he wrapped his capture tool around her and pinned her down.

The students and teachers watching the match were shouting at the screen after seeing Itsuka getting captured, though it was mostly class 1-B. "Where the hell is Shino?! Ever since Kendo began fighting Mr. Aizawa, he disappeared with no sign! That's not manly at all!" Tetsutetsu shouted in anger that the president and big sister of class 1-B had to fight a teacher on her own.

"Was he all talk and just hid himself in fear of getting pummeled? It seems that's all he's good for. And he's your vice-president? What a joke!" Monoma once again used the opportunity to mock class 1-A, who didn't know how to defend the boy this time.

That's when Midoriya noticed something that he was quick to point out to everybody. "Look at Kendo." That thankfully caught everyone's attention as they turned to the screen once more. The screen showed Aizawa getting closer to Kendo while tightening his grip on with the capture tool. Despite how bad the situation was, Itsuka wasn't panicking, she wasn't angry or sad, in fact she was smiling, a fact that caught everyone by surprise and made them wonder what could she be planning.

"You did well Kendo, but with you alone there was no way you could beat me even with Shino's help, and while you two showed a level teamwork, it was mostly you doing all the work with the most Shino has done is making that armor and being a bait, it seems that you two will fail." Aizawa said with small hint of sympathy as he stood right next to the girl who suddenly went from smiling to laughing which confused the man and put him on edge.

"Sir, you think we lost? That I was doing all the work while Shino was just a distraction? I'm afraid you got things mixed up, I was the bait, a bait you swallowed." Aizawa's eyes shot open and he looked around him in anticipation of the incoming attack but saw nothing amiss, and that was because he was looking in the wrong direction.

While Aizawa was looking up, the gold that made up Itsuka's armor started to move slowly inching towards the unassuming teacher. It wasn't until he felt a weight on his capture tool that he turned around to see a golden slime climbing it and heading towards him, he quickly jumped backwards trying to make some distance between him and the creature, but at that point it was too late as the gold latched on to his right arm and leg and slowly started enveloping him until only his head was visible and he was completely unable to move let alone free himself.

"Looks like it our win." Came Shino's voice as he descended from the tree he was hiding on top of and he walked next to Itsuka.

"Indeed, you two were able to deceive me into thinking Shino was the distraction when you actual goal was capturing me with the gold." Aizawa said with a small smile as his hands were free from the gold just to be cuffed by Shino.

"It was Itsuka's idea, and to be honest, I was completely against it because it was very dangerous, but it worked out thanks to her." Shino gave his girlfriend the credit for their win.

"Nonsense, I just came up with the idea, you were the one who executed everything perfectly, and throughout the fight I wasn't even moving it was all you." Itsuka bounced the credit back to him. This started a routine of each one bouncing the credit to the other, which annoyed Aizawa who was forced to witness it very fast.

"Enough you two we get it, now get me out of this so we can return and I can take my well-deserved nap." With that, Aizawa was freed and they all rode the bus back to the surveillance room only to be met with total chaos as the two classes were having another fight with the exception of a few students.

Shino glanced to the side and saw Midoriya along with Uraraka and the rest of class 1-A that didn't partake in the fight. "Hey Midoriya, what happened? Why are they fighting again?"

Midoriya noticing his friend went over, "Hey Shino, Kendo, congratulations on passing. As for this," He gestured to the fighting students, "It started after we saw you hand cuff Mr. Aizawa, Monoma started bad-mouthing you saying that you relied on Kendo to win and contributed nothing, then expanded to the entirety of our class, Kacchan to this as a personal insult and started his own verbal attack on class 1-B who didn't take it laying, and before we knew it, here we are." The boy told the story to the three that just joined.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Itsuka shouted in disbelief. "We did this exam just to show them that they should work together and instead they use it as an excuse to fight even more."

"I guess Rome wasn't built in a day." Shino shrugged in disappointment, but then Itsuka caught the sight of Monoma in the crowd and was about head over there when she stepped on her feet the wrong way and agitated the injury she was hiding causing her to kneel down in pain.

"Itsuka! What's wrong?!" Shino quickly kneeled down next to her and immediately saw the red mark on her foot that indicated an injury. "How did you get injured? And why didn't say something?" He asked but realized the answer almost as soon as the words left his mouth.

"It was because of the armor, wasn't it?" He asked in dreed-filled voice.

"It's nothing really." Itsuka's pained voice and that she didn't look at Shino while answering was all the confirmation that he needed and a tsunami of guilt hit him hard, it was his fault that she was in pain, he injured her and she didn't want to tell him because she knew how he'll react.

He was brought back to reality by the loud noises of the students still fighting, seemingly unaware of his and Itsuka's presence, and he was angry both at himself for screwing up and at the others for wasting his and Itsuka's efforts, not to mention the teachers' efforts.

"Sit down Itsuka, you shouldn't agitate the injury any further." He helped her sit down then brought some medical supplies from his belt and with the help of Midoriya treated the injury. After that he stood up and Itsuka and Midoriya could see the anger in his eyes.

"Shino calm down, it's like you said, Rome wasn't built in a day." Itsuka tried to calm him down but it was obvious it didn't work.

"Yes, but they didn't have me back then." Shino said with small growl before turning to where the students were fighting.

"ENOUGH!" He growled and a huge wave of gold came through the gates and enveloped the fighting students only and seconds later they were each trapped in a golden floating cocoon that covered them up to just below the shoulder. Obviously, they were confused and a bit uncomfortable.

"What the fuck?!" Shouted Bakugo as he tried to force his way out of his cocoon to no avail.

"I am fucking sick and tired of this idiotic fight! Now all of you will hear me to the end with no talking back, or else." Shino sounded more threatening than Aizawa and that was saying something as all the students quieted down. All except one.

"Or else what?" Monoma said in challenging tone with his usual smirk, but he regretted his decision to open his mouth as the gold around him began to tighten itself squeezing him hard.

"Or else I will slowly squeeze you to death. And let me tell you, the whole your organs coming out of your mouth is just the end result. First, you'll feel your bones crack as they start pressing on your internal organs until the bones shatter, the pieces will then pierce said organs and probably destroy more than one causing internal bleeding and a lot of pain, not to mention that the now sharp bone ends will impale the already damaged organs. After all that, if enough pressure is applied, the mash that was your organs will be push towards one of the two holes you have, so if you're lucky, your organs will come out of your mouth." The detailed and extremely graphic explanation made everyone's faces go pale with fear. Vlad King was about to stop this but was stopped by Nezu as the principal told him to wait and he, trusting in the superior, stopped although he was ready to move the moment he felt any of the students' lives were in danger. Aizawa while looking calm and collected couldn't help worrying a bit but also chose to trust Nezu and Shino.

"You think this thing can stop me! I'll blow it then come blow your face away Shitty Goldie Lox!" Bakugo yelled and attempted to break free again only to be squeezed even tighter but he wasn't the only one. Everyone trapped with him were being squeezed just as tight.

"What did we do? Bakugo is the one who talked." Kaminari managed to speak.

"I forgot to tell you, if one of you steps out of line, all of you will suffer for it, so you better make sure everyone shuts the fuck up and don't speak unless spoken to." Shino release his hold a little bit to allow them to breath and speak. The students who didn't join the fight were thankful they were spared such treatment but were worried for their friends and classmate and even the students of the other class.

"How is that fair?" Jiro blurted out.

"Was it fair that me and Itsuka had to go through a harder exam just to show you idiots that this fight is stupid and meaningless only for you to use it to fuel the fight even more. But most importantly, was it fair that people like you, who have so much power and potential to be great heroes, would waste that potential by trying get in each other's way instead of actually trying to better yourselves. No it isn't, and for the life of me, I don't get why you don't? Why?" Shino said this with more sadness than anger and the students could help the feeling of shame that came over them, especially since he said they could be great heroes.

"Of course you won't get it." Came the voice of Monoma but now he wasn't wearing his usual grin, instead he was scowling. "Like you said, life isn't fair, someone like you, who was born with a powerful and useful quirk, would never understand what we feel." He talked in plural but it felt like he wasn't only talking about himself.

Shino looked at Monoma with sympathy mixed with a bit of anger, being told he was born with a powerful quirk hit a nerve for him, he lowered him so they could see eye to eye. "You think I was born with a powerful quirk? This quirk that you're so envious of has brought me nothing but suffering. It was nothing but a curse on me." This shocked the student as it was the first time they heard someone call their quirk a curse. "When this quirk manifested, my hands had to be trapped in these gloves that I couldn't control meaning I lost the use of my hands." The teachers and students who were hearing this felt sorry for what he had to go through but felt it wasn't the end of it, and they were right. "I couldn't go to school, I couldn't go outside alone, hell! I could change my own clothes. My mother had to quit her job to take care of me, which meant my father had to work more hours and couldn't be at home most of the time." Shino's eyes started to get damp but wiped the tears and continued. "My quirk is powerful because I spent countless days and nights training it." Shino removed his glove on one of his hands and showed it to Monoma and the others, much like the rest of his body, it was scarred, but all the scars were on the fingers. "Do have any idea how many time I broke my fingers training so I wouldn't a burden to my parents or anyone ever again?" Monoma didn't want know the answer to that and neither did anyone.

Monoma's scowl disappeared and was replaced with a shameful expression much like the rest.

"Monoma, do you know how versatile and useful your quirk can be if you took the time to train it?" Shino asked Monoma who didn't answer but only shock his head with a bit of shock, no one ever said his quirk was useful.

Shino turned to Midoriya, "Midoriya, can you give me three combinations Monoma could do with only class 1-A's quirks?" Midoriya perked up at this knowing what Shino was going for.

"Just three?" The boy's answer shocked the students, especially Monoma, there more than three?

"Yeah three is enough, I just want to give him a glimpse of the possibilities." Shino explained and Midoriya nodded.

"The most notable ones are a combination between Iida's and Kirishima's quirks. Using Iida's 'engine', he could lunch himself at incredible speeds than harden his body, which will make him a human sized bullet that can go through any defense." Monoma couldn't help the shock on his face, he was skeptical of what Shino said, but hearing Midoriya's explanation and just imagining it gave him Goosebumps and that was just one combinations. "A second combination would be with Ashido's acid and Kaminari's discharge. By spraying weak acid as a trap he could trip them and then electrocute them and since the electricity will travel only through the acid that would eliminate Kaminari's only drawback being that he can't control where his discharge went." It was Kaminari and Ashido who were the most surprised by this, mostly since such a combination would have been useful during their exam. "Lastly, a combination between Kacchan and…"

"Just stop." Monoma cut off Midoriya then sighed in defeat.

"Do you get now Monoma? And it's not just you who could grow stronger. For example, Tokoyami and Kuroiro could be the ultimate team of darkness." Shino pointed out and the two students in question looked at each other and it was like their minds synced and the like that idea. "Or Yaoyorozu, Awase, and Kodai could work together with Yaoyorozu making weapons, Awase sticking them together to form different combinations while Kodai enlarges them for more destructive power, like a row of giant cannons for example." Although the three student didn't like the giant cannons, they couldn't disagree that them working together would yield great results.

Shino took a breath, "Please understand everyone, we are the next hope, the ones who passed the entrance exam and entered the world's best school for heroes and were tasked with not only saving people's lives but also inspiring them like the previous generation did to us. Many of you aim to become a hero because you were inspired by one, be it All-Might or some other hero, and even the ones that came for money or fame, even if you don't want to be friends with the other team, you should ask yourself this. Will this infighting help achieve your goal? Will it give you the recognition you desire? Will it make you feel better about yourself?" Shino was about to lower the students when a loud voice stopped him.

"FUCK YOU! I don't anybody to help me, I'm not a week extra like the rest of you! I will become the number one hero with my own power!" Shino paused for a moment and stared at Bakugo before releasing a deep sigh.

"You say that but last time I saw you, you were a screaming your lungs out as All-Might pounded you to the ground. You were nothing but a punching bag, actually scratch that, a punching bag would take the hits quietly. It wasn't until you worked with Midoriya that the two of you had a chance to win." This was enough to shut the boy up, he had forgotten that unlike the others, Shino wasn't taking an exam and instead was watching them.

"You are strong and talented Bakugo, no one can hope to deny that, but alone you won't achieve much. All-Might himself relies on other heroes and the police when on missions and doesn't let his pride endanger the lives of others."

"You're absolutely right Young Shino." Came the deep voice of All-Might as everyone turned to see the All-Might standing at the door (Shino moved the ones trapped in gold so they can see too).

"Young Bakugo, this world is vast with all types of quirks and there will be villains out there that will be too strong for one man to handle. You can't rely on yourself alone and shun everyone around you even if it was true that are better, that doesn't mean that you have the right to belittle them." All-Might said as he walked next to the other teachers. Bakugo had nothing to say, All-Might himself said that one man can't win all the time and it shocked him to the core and he needed time think this over.

Shino saw this and felt a bit of relief wash over him, "Now I will put all of you down and I want everybody to just apologize. And the first to apologize would be me, I'm sorry for putting in this uncomfortable position, I was angry and frustrated. I hope you can forgive me." Shino bow to the students as they were safely lowered and the gold released its hold on them. Surprisingly, none of them held any resentment towards him, for the most part. Thinking back on it now, they realized how childish and idiotic their behavior was and how frustrating to must have been for him and Itsuka to try to stop them with no success, and so they all chose to forgive him and some of them even apologized to him.

After all that was set and done, Shino turned to Itsuka who was still sitting where he left her and had a warm and sweet smile on her face, she was proud of Shino and how he handled the situation, although she wished she contributed more.

"Time to take you to Recovery Girl. Unfortunately, she's in her office because it was on match and the surveillance room was crowded as is." Shino said but frowned when he saw Itsuka trying to stand up.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"We're going to Recovery Girl right?" She answered with a bit of confusion.

"Yeah but nobody said anything about you walking, I said I will take you there." He stated as he kneeled next to her and picked her up bridal style. Itsuka wasn't that embarrassed since she got used to Shino's forwardness, but others weren't, and his actions didn't go unnoticed.

"Shino what do you think you're doing?!" Asked Iida in an exasperated voice. The girls and Midoriya were blushing like crazy and some of the boys had eyes of either jealousy or protective rage.

"Taking Itsuka to Recovery Girl to heal her leg." Shino answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it was, but that wasn't the point.

"We have stretchers for that, you can just hold a girl like that, and it's disrespectable to address her by her first name!" Itsuka chuckled a bit at Iida's overreaction.

"I'm not gonna wait for a stretcher to come here, and don't couples call each other by their first names?" The implications of Shino's words fell on everyone like lightning bolt.

"WHAT?!" Everyone, except Nezu, Aizawa, and Tokage, screamed at once.

"Oh right! You didn't know." Shino finally remembered and Itsuka shook her head and decided to answer for him.

"As you just found out, we are indeed a couple." She said affirming Shino's claim.

"Since when?!" Asked some of them at once.

"Since after the sports festival." This was a second shock to them. They've been dating for that long and no one knew.

"How far have you gone?" Ashido asked with sly tone.

"Sorry that too much information and Itsuka still needs to get her leg healed." Shino said quickly as he rode his board and got out quickly before any more questions were asked.

After Itsuka's leg was healed she and Shino parted with each one going to their respective class where Shino expected to be interrogated again, but when he got in the atmosphere was filled with sadness with many of his classmates wearing gloomy faces, it was like someone died. That's when Shino remembered that not all of the class had passed the exam which meant that they won't go the summer camp along with everybody. Right then, Aizawa entered behind Shino and after taking a look at the state the classroom was at, started to speak.

"As you now, several of you had failed the final exam and according to that wouldn't join the rest in the summer camp." The students that failed frowned even more and wished they could sink into the floor as they knew he was talking about them. "Well, I'm here to tell you that was another logical ruse to make you give your best." Everyone turned their gazes from the ground to Aizawa in disbelief but from the man's expression, he wasn't kidding, not that they thought he could in the first place.

Shouts of happiness and excitement filled the classroom as the students celebrated that they won't have to separate from their friends, but Aizawa wasn't done yet, "While it's true that you will come to the summer camp, that doesn't mean that your failure will go unpunished. The ones who failed the exam will be taking remedial lessons while at the camp." This dampened the mood a bit but not enough to stop the celebration. Aizawa then excused himself out of the classroom.

"Hey I got a great idea!" Said Ashido excitedly. "Why don't we all go the mall to buy the required things for the camp? We've been a class for a while but we've never any activity as a group." The idea appealed to all the class, except Bakugo was didn't scream but gave a small growl and looked away when he was asked his opinion.

"Sorry, but I won't be able to come with you." Said Shino in an apologetic tone as he held his bag. "I have some business to finish, maybe after that I will join you if you're still there."

"What you're going out with your girlfriend?" Ashido asked trying to get some answers out of him.

"No, just an errand I need to do, I'll see later guys." He said as he moved back to the window before flipping out of it. The students gathered around the window just to find Shino moving away with his board with Iida finding the time to yell about misuse of quirks.

Shino arrived at his home where told the news of him passing the exam to his family and receiving hugs from them all before grabbing the box that contained his latest project before rush to deliver it.

After a short travel, he arrived in front of a garage and motorcycle shop and before entering he opened the box a little bit to check on the condition of the figure. Just when he was about to open the door, it opened on its own, or rather, someone opened it from the inside, and out came Itsuka almost pumping into him, but luckily she noticed the person in front of her and halted.

"Itsuka?! What are you doing here?" He asked in surprise.

"That's what I should be asking you? What are you doing at a motorcycle shop?" She asked back.

"My customer owns this place, remember? The one I told about before." Itsuka remembered the event but couldn't believe the coincidence, it was like the universe was putting the two of them together or something.

"But what are you doing here?" Shino reiterated his previous question.

"I was collecting money for a while to buy an important part to my future motorcycle and came here but the owner refuses to sell it to me. Says he won't sell stuff like that to children." She explained the situation and Shino just smiled.

"Come with me, I'll see what I can do." Shino entered the shop and Itsuka followed a bit confused what could he do.

"Yo old man, how are you? Shino greeted loudly alerting the man to him. Instead of a scowl or a groan like Itsuka predicted, the man was very happy to see Shino and his eyes immediately locked on the box in his hand.

"AH! Shino! Welcome, come in, I've been waiting for you." The man greeted. "Is this what I asked for?" He asked while pointing at the box.

"Yep, it is." Shino answered and removed the cover to allow the sides of the box to fall down revealing the figure.

It was a figure of a blue motorcycle with lightning patterns all over it, it had very wide and thick tires and two big exhaust pipes on each side of the back wheel, in front was a symbol depicting Mjolnir, the thunder god thor's hammer with a lightning streak behind it. It was impressive and very detailed and if you didn't very closely you wouldn't know it was wooden. Itsuka couldn't hold the "Wow" that came from her, she had seen pictures of Shino's figures before but seeing the real thing was different. It seemed the old man was impressed too, but when he extended his hand to hold the figure, Shino retracted it back before he could reach it.

"Before you have it, we must talk payment." Shino said with a smirk.

"Fair enough, how much?" The man said a bit irritated he had to wait more to get his hand on the figure.

"I just want you to sell my friend here the part she wanted to buy." Shino said and both the man and Itsuka were surprised.

"Shino you don't have to do this, isn't the money you get from this used for your family?" Itsuka didn't him to put his family in tight spot because he wanted to help.

"Don't worry, we're not in need of money right now, I did this as a favor to the old man since he's a regular and gave him a huge discount anyway." Shino explained then turned to the shop owner to get his answer.

"Fine, since she's your friend then I don't mind. Can you give me the figure now?" The man extended his hands again.

"Right after you give her the part." The man huffed with irritation and hurried to the back to bring the part Itsuka wanted and handed it to her in a bag then Shino gave him the figure he wanted and he and Itsuka got out.

"Thanks Shino, I was looking forward to getting this for a while now." Itsuka said excited and happy.

"No problem. Say are you free now?" Shino asked and Itsuka looked at him confused.

"Yeah why are you asking?"

"My class are in the mall right now buying stuff for the summer camp and I was going to meet them after this delivery, want to come with me?"

"I don't know about that, won't they feel like I'm intruding?"

"Not at all, plus I think they have some questions for you."

"If it's like that, then I would be happy to come, I have stuff I didn't pay yet." Upon hearing this, Shino brought out his hovering board but made it bigger to fit two people.

"Hop on then." He gestured to Itsuka and she complied.

When they reached the mall they found it shut down with police cars surrounding the area. "This can't be good." Said Shino as they stopped and went the rest of the distance on foot.

Kendo notice Ashido, Kaminari, and Kirishima standing among the crowd and pointed out Shino and they both headed to ask them what happened.

"Ashido! Kirishima! Kaminari! What's happening here?" The three heard Shino and turned to see him and Itsuka approaching them.

"Shino! Where were you man?" Kaminari asked him before noticing Itsuka next to him, but it was Ashido who asked the question instead of him.

"Didn't you say you had an errand to run and wasn't going to meet your girlfriend?" She asked crossing her arms.

"I met Itsuka by coincidence, but that's not important right now. What the hell is happening here?" Shino brought the conversation back on track.

"Midoriya had a run in with the leader of the league of villains." Kirishima answered Shino question.

"What?! Did something happen to Midoriya?" Shino asked while hold Kirishima by the shoulder extremely worried now that he knew his friend was in danger.

"He's fine, Uraraka found him before anything happened and the villain used the confusion that ensued to escape. They both with the police right now being questioned." Answered Kirishima while holding his hands in front of Shino trying to calm him down.

"Damn you Shigaraki, if I ever see you again I'll kill you." Shino said with anger in his eyes and his classmates were starting to have flashbacks to earlier that day. That's when a hand smacked Shino on the head, it was Itsuka.

"Ow! Why did you hit me?" Shino questioned his girlfriend.

"Enough murdering for you in one day, you're supposed to be the hero not the villain." Itsuka reprimanded him.

"Fine, you could've just said that, you didn't have to hit me." Shino complained.

"You were giving off this bad aura and I had to stop you." Itsuka explained herself.

"Again you didn't have to hit me." Shino continued to complain and the couple went back and forth arguing about it with the other three watching dumbfounded.

**Unknown Location: 2 hour later**

Shigaraki and Kurogiri were approaching an abandoned warehouse when Kurogiri finally spoke. "It was a wise choice to accept this invitation Shigaraki, but what changed your mind?" He asked curious.

"Meeting that hero kid made me realize something, I have a goal too, to destroy All-Might, and achieve that goal, I'll use everything available to me, Stain's ideals and the idiots that follow it, and this organization we're meeting. Now then tell me what we know about them." Shigaraki ordered.

"They're called Apotheosis, they were made during the early years of the quirk age with the goal to defend mutant type quirk users since most discrimination was directed at them, but after raising their power, their mission changed to punishing those who attacked mutant type quirk users and then to claiming that mutant type quirks were the true step in evolution and others are just lower life forms. These days, they are a huge organization that splits into eight divisions each handling something from drug dealing to weapons manufacturing and the division are forbidden from interacting with each other in any way except when the leaders of each division meet in secret location no one but them knows. The fact they asked to meet you is a big deal Shigaraki."

"I hate people like them, but I will use them to get my own goals." Shigaraki said while scratching his neck.

When the two entered the warehouse, they found it empty with only a table and two chairs in the middle. On one of the chairs sat a man with face of a crocodile complete with sharp teeth and eyes. He clearly had scales covering his entire body that were themselves covered by his suit. What stood out however, was the color of those scales, they were pale while, almost like he was covered in snow and had a thick tail. Behind him stood two figures, to the left was a boulder of a man with the appearance of a Minotaur that exuded a white gas with each breath he let out. On the lift was a woman with her lower body being that of a snake and her upper body covered in scales although hers were smaller and green in color.

"Welcome Shigaraki Tomora, the leader of the league of villains." The crocodile greeted.

"And I assume that you're the leader of Apotheosis?" Shigaraki asked uninterested.

"How dare a scum like you disrespect the boss like that! An insect like you should learn its place in the world." The Minotaur moved to attack Shigaraki but his boss stopped him while the woman chuckled at him.

"Yes Shigaraki, I am one of the leaders of Apotheosis, please sit down so we can start this meeting." The man said in a calm and controlled tone and Shigaraki complied.

"So what does an organization like you want from my league?" Shigaraki asked as soon as he sat down.

"Right to the point, good. To put it simply, I want our two organizations to help each other." The man said and Shigaraki couldn't stop his eye brow from rising.

"I understand that you have a grudge against U.A., we can give information about when and where they'll be next so you can make your attack as well as provide you with any equipment you and your league need for it." The man stated his offer and Shigaraki was starting to get interested but what was the catch, there always had to be a catch.

"And what exactly do want in return?" Shigaraki asked.

"Nothing much, all I want is for you to retrieve something for me."

"Do I look like an errand boy to you?! Why should my league go out of it way to get you something?" He question as he scratched his neck violently.

"You won't be out of your way, in fact, it's right in your way and I want it." The man brought out a photo and threw it in front of Shigaraki and the moment he saw it, he stopped scratching his neck and a wide smile was drawn on his face, not that anybody could see, but they felt it.

"Interesting."

**Thank you for reading.**

**AN: So first I have to give credit where it's due and the name of the organization was taken after one of the most popular fanfics as well as a manga I'm reading, but I chose it because it fits their ideals and philosophy. Please tell me what you think of them and your opinion would be much appreciated. **

**Fun Fact: This was where I originally planned to have Shino and Itsuka confess but it took too long to get here and I don't like slow burns.**


	18. Chapter 18

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 18**

Everyone was excited as they boarded the bus that was to take them to the camp site, they didn't know where the site was as U.A. kept that information a secret even from Teachers aside from the homeroom teachers of the two classes since they were the only ones to accompany them. All the students knew was that they were gonna stay at that camp for a week.

After a tirade from Iida about the class siting in system and the rest ignoring him in favor of sitting next to their friend groups which angered the class president but he yielded in the end since his system wouldn't have allowed him to sit next to his friends either, the bus began its journey. Shino couldn't help but feel disappointment when he discovered that the two classes each had a different bus, meaning he wouldn't see Itsuka until they arrived to the camp. '_U.A. has enough money to build cities and repair them but not a bus big enough for two classes? That's ridiculous! Or maybe it for security? Yeah, that makes more sense, especially since I overheard Aizawa talking about different routes too. Still sucks though. At least I still have Midoriya and the others with me._'

The bus reached the side of a mountain road that overlooked a vast forest and stopped and Aizawa ordered the class to get off it. Mineta ran out in hurry holding his crouch and demanding to know where the toilets were.

"We have arrived at our destination." Aizawa said in an even tone and the students couldn't be more confused. There was nothing but a black car that was there when they arrived.

"Sir, why have we stopped here?" Iida asked the homeroom teacher.

"And where are the toilets?!" Mineta asked clearly reaching his limit.

"The school have asked heroes from outside for help on this camp and we're meeting them here." Aizawa informed the class and they started conversing about who it might be. Luckily, their questions were about to be answered. The door of the black car everybody chose to ignore opened and out came three people, two women and a kid. They were both wearing the same costume with different colors, one was wearing a red costume and had red hair styled in three bangs going across her face and brown eyes. The other had the blue version of the costume and blonde hair that was combed back save for her bangs and blue eyes. The kid was wearing normal clothes and had black hair that was mostly covered by a red hat with two golden horns coming from it.

"Welcome and thank you for having us." Aizawa greeted them as they came into the students' view.

Immediately, the two women started some kind of chant and pose while the kid just looked away indifferent. They were the pro heroes Mandalay and Pixie Pop, part of the four-man hero team, The Wild Wild Pussy Cats, a well-known hero team that specializes in search and rescue missions and with amazing teamwork, a fact Midoriya made sure his classmates knew about.

"You must be class 1-A, as you were just informed, we well be assisting U.A. with your training camp. The forest you see behind me is called the beast's forest and is all our property and your camp will over there." Mandalay pointed to a white building deep into the forest that was barely visible from the trees.

'_So far!_' the class couldn't help but think.

"If it's that far, then why did we stop here?" Uraraka asked no one but received an answer from Mandalay, in the form of a sly smirk that bordered on playful. The students of class 1-A, the bright children that they are, figured out the meaning of that smirk.

"You don't mean…"

"Don't tell me…"

"There is no way!"

"You can't be serious!"

"Guys let's go back to the bus." Everyone turned quickly and started running to the bus only to find Pixie Pop in their way.

"It's now 9:30AM, Kitties who don't make it by 12:30AM won't be having lunch." Mandalay said as Pixie Pop touched the ground and it started to move, throwing the students over the edge and into the forest. "The training camp has already begun." Was Mandalay's idea of goodbye.

Luckily, Shino was able to create a platform for the students, so their descent wasn't painful, but they could hear the sound of the bus leaving, and with no other way, decided to tread the beast's forest.

The first to step up was Mineta, but not out of bravery or excitement, but out the sheer need to relieve himself in the shadow of one of these trees. Unfortunately, that meant he was also the first to encounter one of the beasts that the forest is named after as it towers over him. On the bright side, Mineta lost the need to use the toilet.

The beast releases a roar and raises his hand preparing to squash the grape boy. Koda runs to him trying to calm the beast down but it doesn't even react to him as it brings down its claw on the two students before two tendrils grab them pulling them away as four other figures jump to attack the beast destroying it. Shino managed to pull Mineta and Koda allowing Midoriya, Iida, Bakugo, and Todoroki to jump the monster who couldn't withstand the four's power.

After it was destroyed, the class noticed that what their classmates just destroyed wasn't a living being but was made of clay.

"So that's why it didn't react to Koda at all, but what's was it exactly?" Yaoyorozu wondered.

"Didn't Pixie Pop move the ground when she touched it? Could it be that she made that thing?" Shino reminded the others.

"Pixie Pop's quirk is very similar to Cementoss in that it allows her to freely control earth, so it's possible." Midoriya explained.

"At least we beat him so there shouldn't be a problem now." Kaminari said relieved, and on cue, multiple giant beasts of varies shapes came out and the roars of many more were heard deep in the forest.

"You just had to open your mouth, didn't you dumbass." Jiro scolded the electric quirk user. What they didn't know was that while the bus did leave, the Pussy Cats and Aizawa were still there and saw what happened before they too left to wait for them at the camp.

It was hard, it was exhausting, and it definitely didn't feel like training, but class 1-A persevered against the monsters and even the ones with quirks not suited for combat did what they could to help either by acting as bait or supporting their friends. After a long and grueling fight, the class aspiring heroes managed to reach the camp site at 5:30PM and they were just about ready to drop to the ground from exhaustion. Shino's legs wouldn't stop shaking and he was using everything in his power to not collapse.

"How the hell were we supposed to take just three hours to get here?" complained some of the students.

"Sorry about that, actually that's what it takes us, but did well for today." Mandalay said. That's when the students noticed two more people standing there, they were wearing the same costume as Mandalay and Pixie Pop.

"Who are they?" Asked Sero.

"These are our teammates. Ragdoll and Tiger." Mandalay introduced the two heroes. Ragdoll was a woman with emerald green long hair, big, round yellow eyes, and wore a yellow version of the costume to match while Tiger was an intimidating, tall, Muscular man with short brown hair with blank white eyes that added to the intimidating factor and he wore a brown version of the costume.

Almost immediately, the four heroes did the full version of the chant and pose with the other half now present to do their part. The students wanted to cringe but were too exhausted to even do that. The kid from earlier was their too and that caught Midoriya's attention.

"Excuse me but I wanted to ask, who is that kid?" Midoriya voiced his curiosity.

"Oh! This is my nephew, Kota, he lives with us here." Mandalay introduced the kid that was glaring at the students with venom in his eyes.

Midoriya somehow didn't notice that glare or maybe thought the kid was shy and like the ray of sunshine that he is, went up to the kid despite being very exhausted and introduced himself.

"Hi, my name is Izuku Midoriya, nice to meet you Kota." Midoriya closed his eyes and offered the boy a warm smile, this was a mistake, because if he had his eyes open, he might have been able to dodge the punch that Kota delivered directly to his crouch, but he didn't, and just like that, the future number one hero was downed by a seven-year old angry kid. Iida quickly came to the aid of his friend and demanded an apology from the kid.

"Kota! Apologize now!" Mandalay ordered the boy.

"I don't intend to hang out with people how want to be heroes!" Kota shouted before walking away. This caught Shino's interest as he watched the boy with a frown but right now, the students had a different problem. Almost as soon as Midoriya recovered, the class's collective stomachs cried out in hunger. Unlike the popular believe at the moment, The Pussy Cats weren't monsters, and offered the starving students a feast to fill their empty stomachs.

"Be sure to eat well because this is the last time we'll give you food, after this, you'll have to cook your own food." Ragdoll warned in a cheerful tone that didn't suit what she was saying, not that anybody was paying attention anyway, too focused on devouring whatever came in their sight.

After finishing their meal, the students were shown to their cabins where their luggage waited for them. Later they were allowed to use the hot spring the Pussy Cats apparently have, everyone was more than excited and happy to relax and let their wary and stiff bodies loosen up in the hot water. Shino didn't join them opting for some solo training in the woods not too far from the camp since he regained some of his stamina after eating, but that wasn't the real reason he didn't join his friends.

"Man! The water feels great! I can feel stiffness go away!" Kirishima exclaimed as the boys all enjoyed the hot water, except for Shino.

"I wish Shino was here to enjoy it too, but he said he wanted to train a bit more." Midoriya said disappointed.

"I know what I'm gonna say will sound mean, but I'm kinda glad he didn't come." Kaminari said and loud gasps were heard from the other boys.

"Dude! Not cool!" Kirishima reprimanded the blond.

"That was uncalled for Kaminari!" Iida also sounded his disappointment in him.

"I know, I know, Shino is a great guy, don't get me wrong, but thinking about the scars on his body makes me uncomfortable." Kaminari tried to explain himself.

"That is not an excuse Kaminari, it's not like he chose to have those scars, it was an accident, an accident that took away his parents." Iida said and they all lowered their heads being reminded of what their friend went through.

"And yet he can still smile, I don't know how he does it, if I was in his place, I don't think I would even manage a small smile for the rest of my life." Kirishima said and the rest nodded in agreement.

"It just goes to show how much will power Shino has, and he's very optimistic too." Todoroki joined the conversation.

"Maybe when you see the worst has to offer, everything after that just becomes trivial." Shoji deduced.

"Yeah, but he can be really scary when he's angry. When he had us covered in gold, I really thought would squeeze us to death. Well, thank god he's on our side, I don't want to even imagine what could do as a villain." Kaminari said and everyone that was also caught shivered at being reminded of that sensation and the possibilities that came with.

"Speaking of scary, who do you think is scarier, Shino or Bakugo?" Sero asked the guys and they all had thoughtful looks as they considered the question. The explosive blond wasn't with them at the time, he was quietly and angrily cleaning his hair which gave them the courage to talk freely.

"I think Kacchan is scarier, when Shino is angry, it feel out of worry more than anything, like when you break something and your mother gets angry at you, but she's angry that you could've hurt yourself more than because you broke it. Kacchan gets angry at anything." Midoriya was the first to give an answer.

"And he always apologizes when he overdoes it. Bakugo just screams louder." Todoroki added.

"But because Bakugo is always angry, you can kinda get used to it and he doesn't act on his threats. Shino on the other hand, seems like he would act, but he usually doesn't angry that easily, I'll give him that." Kirishima defended Bakugo.

"Hey Mineta, what do you think?" Kaminari asked the class's resident coward but didn't find him next to him. Looking around, he saw him standing next to the wall that separated the boys' section of the hot springs from the girls', this drew everyone's attention to him and they knew what the little pervert was thinking. Iida stood up and started walking over to him.

"Mineta, come here immediately." Iida ordered the boy but he didn't respond, instead he slowly reached for the balls on his head and before anybody could stop him, Mineta started scaling the wall at impressive speed.

"A heaven filled with beautiful girls is waiting for me beyond this wall!" Mineta shouted as he approached the top of the wall, only for Kota to suddenly appear in his face.

"Disgusting." Kota said with before pushing Mineta off the wall to fall, fortunately Iida was there to receive Mineta's ass with his face. Poor Iida, he didn't deserve that.

"Thanks Kota, that pervert never gives up." A feminine voice came from behind Kota causing him to look in the direction of the source, only to find the girls of class 1-A, naked. This proved to be too much for the little boy as he backed away and trip over the wall and fall at the boys' side. Everybody watched in horror but Midoriya was the one to act, jumping and catching the boy before he collided with the ground.

"Kota! Are you okay?" Midoriya checked on the boy after landing only to find him unconscious.

"Midoriya take him to Mandalay right away, she must have a first-aid kit." Iida instructed the boy and he nodded before sprinting to out of the hot spring. Thankfully, Mandalay told the students she was in the room adjacent to the hot spring in case of an emergency, and this was definitely an emergency.

Midoriya reached the room and knocked harder than should have but there was no time to be considerate. Mandalay opened the door annoyed by the hard knocking but that quickly changed to shock and worry when she saw the state her nephew was in, she quickly allowed Midoriya to enter.

"Place him gently on the coach." The pro hero ordered Midoriya as she went to bring the first aid kit.

Mandalay quickly return with the kit and started checking Kota for any wounds. "What happened?" She asked Midoriya.

"I'm not sure, he was on top of the wall between our bath and the girls' and he seemed to trip and fall but I was able to catch him." Midoriya noticed Mandalay had finished checking and gave what looked like a sigh of relief. "How is he?" He asked.

"He's not injured, just fainted from shock of falling I guess. Thank you Midoriya, if you didn't catch him, who know what might've happened." She stood up and walked towards the bathroom with a piece of cloth, probably to soak it in water and put it on Kota head.

"It was nothing. Mandalay, may I ask a question?" Mandalay saw the worried look on Midoriya.

"Sure, ask away."

"Why does Kota hate heroes?" Midoriya wasn't so naive as to think everyone loved heroes, after all, villains existed, but for someone as young as Kota to hate them, there had to be reason. Mandalay looked puzzled by Midoriya's question but decided to tell him.

"Kota's parents were heroes, the duo hero team Water Hose." Midoriya's eyes widened in shock, he of course knew who Kota's parents were, the tragic fate that befell them. They were killed at the hands of a villain, the serial killer named Muscular, but not before severely injuring him and saving many lives that would've been lost. "Kota was devastated, and everyone around him kept saying they died a hero's death and that it was an honorable death, you can imagine, to a little kid, all he wanted was his parents, but they were dead, because they were heroes. This was the start of Kota's resentment to heroes, a resentment I couldn't help him get rid no matter how hard I tired." Mandalay looked at the unconscious Kota with sorrow at the state her nephew was at and frustration at her inability to help him. She then turned to Midoriya, "Please don't think bad of him for what he says, he's just a little kid."

"Of course." Midoriya answered before silently walking out of the room and into the open. He was busy thinking of what he just learned about Kota when a sound came from the trees on his right.

"Finally! I thought I would never find my way back!" Came a familiar voice as Shino came out of the woods to find Midoriya in front of him.

"Shino where were you?" Midoriya asked.

"Training in the forest, but I kinda got lost and just found my way. Midoriya why ar-" Shino was about to ask something but Midoriya interrupted him.

"I want to ask you something Shino." Midoriya said not noticing his friend trying to tell him something.

"Sure but first just-" Shino tried again but was again interrupted and he started to get irritated.

"It's kinda personal and I understand if you don't want to answer." Midoriya was sounding desperate and Shino wanted to answer his question but there was an elephant in the room that had to be mentioned.

"Midoriya! I will answer your question but first tell me, why are you only wearing a towel outside?" Shino's question reminded Midoriya why he was feeling breezy and he quickly scurried inside to cover his body. After wearing his clothes he returned to Shino and the two stood beside each other with their backs resting against the wall.

"So what's that personal question you wanted to ask?" Shino started the conversation with a smile.

"Well, I wanted to ask. After your accident, did you hate heroes?" Shino smile dropped and he looked in front of him instead of at Midoriya.

"May I ask what brought that up?" Shino asked in serious tone.

"Well…" Midoriya told Shino of what he learned about Kota and to his surprise, Shino didn't seem all that surprised, only nodding.

"I knew there was something with that kid, the hero business is dangerous. As for your question, yes, for a while I hated heroes, like any kid my age, I idolized the heroes, I thought that no matter what, the heroes will always save the day. On that day, I learned that wasn't true, but being the kid I was, I placed the blame on the heroes for not living to my expectations." Midoriya listened quietly to his friend and after Shino finished he wanted to say something but Shino didn't let him. "Enough of that now, I need to go take a bath before they w have to go to bed." Shino said and quickly left Midoriya to think over everything he heard missing the sad look on his face the signs of tears on the edges of his eyes.

Bed time came up and everyone headed to their cabins hopping to have a long and peaceful sleep. Unfortunately, they won't even get that as they were all woken up at 5:30AM, some were waning, some didn't even have time to make wash their faces, and some were still half asleep and they were all wearing their P.E clothes.

"Good morning everyone, today we start your training for real, there will be no slacking off allowed. If you want to achieve real results I suggest you act like him." Aizawa pointed his thumb behind him and everyone look to where he pointed with sleepy eyes to find Shino running laps in the clearing and looking very energized. Shino, upon noticing the group, stopped his labs and headed there stopping next Aizawa.

"You guys sure sleep a lot." Shino remarked.

"How do you have so much energy when we just woke up?" Kaminari asked in a dramatic way.

"I've been awake for an hour now. But I wish I had a cup of coffee right about now, wonder if Itsuka brought her coffee machine." Shino stated and everyone just sweat dropped.

"I'm not gonna even ask, you my friend can't be human." Kaminari commented which confused Shino.

"Enough pleasantries, now for what training we'll be doing in this camp." Aizawa brought out the same ball they used in the quirk assessment test and threw it to Bakugo. "Bakugo, throw it as hard as you can just like before."

The ash-blonde smirked and just like before sent the ball flying with a blast. Everybody waited to see the new score expecting it to be much higher with how much Bakugo had improved. To their surprise and shock, the score was barely any different than the old one.

"As you can see, the score is just a bit higher than before, but Bakugo definitely improved so how come? The answer is simple, Bakugo improved but what improved was his technique and control, while his quirk barely changed. Quirks are like muscles, they must be exercised and made to reach their limit in order to improve, and that what we're gonna do starting today. We've prepared different training exercises for you to improve your quirks." Aizawa said the last part with a smile which the students knew was not a good sign.

Class 1-B were woken up by Vlad King and after gathering in front of their cabin, he led them all to where they will be training alongside class 1-A. The relationship between the two classes was getting past the bad blood but the rivalry between them hasn't died but only got stronger. The students of class 1-B were all determined to train hard to surpass class 1-A and Itsuka seeing their determination felt a sense of pride within her. All that was drained when they arrived to the training ground and saw what class 1-A was going through.

The students of class 1-A were all scattered each doing a different exercise. Iida was running laps while constantly using his engine, Koda was screaming at the top of his lungs for the animals in the forest, Bakugo was dipping his arms in cold water than raising them to the sky to release a powerful explosion then repeat, Todoroki was standing in a barrel full of hot water while constantly releasing waves of ice and fire, and so and so forth, all of class 1-A looked to be in extreme pain which discouraged class 1-B, until rumbling could be heard from the forest and something came flying and landing in front of them. When they took a look at what it was, they found it was Shino.

"Shino!" Itsuka rushed to her boyfriend's side to help him get up. This wasn't the way she thought she meet him at the camp.

"Oh! Hey Itsuka, hey 1-B, welcome to hell." Shino said in cheerful tone but nobody liked what they were hearing.

"What happened to you?" Itsuka asked.

"Mr. Aizawa said I need to improve the speed of shaping my gold, he has me fighting one of the earth beast and I have to shape the gold in certain way before the monster delivered his attack. As you can see, it's easier said than done." Shino explained and he could see some of them shiver.

"Shino, I don't remember giving you a break." Aizawa came behind Shino.

"Sorry sir, I'll be on my way." Shino said and waved Itsuka and class 1-B before returning to the training. Aizawa turned to the second heroics class, "Welcome class 1-B, you will be divided to join the appropriate training."

The two classes started their joined training which took the entire day, they were of course given breaks, but they weren't nearly enough to lift the fatigue from their bodies. Finally, the training ended and almost all students that were still standing fell to the ground in exhaustion.

"I'm so hungry right now!" Kirishima shouted to the heavens receiving shouts of agreement from the others.

"If you're hungry than you should move your asses and start making dinner." Tiger said in his intimidating voice as he dropped the raw ingredients.

"What? We're the ones making food?" Kaminari and many others groaned.

"Wait! We get to cook?!" Shino asked excitement clear in his voice.

"Yes, and today's dish is curry, so hurry up if you really want to eat." Tiger said before walking away.

"Leave it to me guys!" Shino shouted and everyone looked at him with confusion.

"You know how to cook?" Kirishima asked. Shino didn't answer, instead he ran back to the cabin and after a minute, returned wearing an apron and one of those long chef hats.

"You bet I can!" Shino finally answered. The others were so shocked by the boy's attire that they didn't know what to say, not that Shino was waiting for a response as quickly moved to a free space and turned part of the ground to gold before shaping the gold into an army of hands.

"Let's start! Everyone please take your seats!" He shouted and everyone just moved to the dining area seemingly accepting the fact that Shino can cook now and deciding not to dwell on it as the hands separating into groups each with a job, from cutting vegetables to igniting the fire, to preparing the plats and cutlery. However several of the girls were all sitting around Itsuka and they were all whispering to each other.

Shortly, food was ready and was being distributed to the students, the teachers, and the pro-heroes. Shino noticed Kota wasn't present and Midoriya talking to Mandalay but was too busy with the food at the moment.

"This is the best curry I've ever eaten!" Kirishima and Tetsutetsu shouted together as they shoved more into their mouths.

"Indeed, it's like it was made by a master chef." Yaoyorozu commented and some of the girls sitting next to her nodded in agreement.

"I've decided! This Kitty is mine!" Pixie Pop exclaimed but Shino put a hand in front of her.

"Sorry but I'm taken." The pro hero sulked back to her seat. And Itsuka could help but feel a bit angry at her for trying to steal her boyfriend, but she wasn't the jealous type and she trusted Shino to handle himself.

Shino noticed Midoriya carrying a fresh plat of curry and walking away while looking around suspiciously as if making sure no one noticed him.

"Itsuka, can I ask you to take care of the food, there is somewhere I need to go." Shino asked Itsuka and she simply nodded but released a sigh of relief as if she was spared from a horrible fate. He removed the apron and the hat and gave them to Itsuka before going in the same direction Midoriya went in.

Midoriya walked on the road Mandalay described for him and finally reached a high point next to a cave that overlooked the forest. He was told this was Kota's secret hideout and where he likes to go if he wants to be alone. As he scaled the road he caught the figure of Kota sitting on the edge and looking at the forest, the boy also noticed Midoriya approaching and was both surprised and angry.

"How did you find this place?" The boy question with a deep scowl.

"I just followed your footsteps and wanted to give you your food, you haven't eaten all day." Midoriya tried to defend himself.

"I don't need anything from you! I told you before, I don't intend to hang out with people like you! Now get out of my secret hideout!" The boy shouted at Midoriya but he didn't back down.

"Every one of you is crazy, training your quirks, do you want to show off that badly?!" Kota questioned the aspiring hero accusingly.

"Kota, your parents were the hero team Water Hose, weren't they?" The kid's eyes widened in shock but then narrowed down in anger.

"Who told you that, it was Mandalay wasn't it?!" Kota once again shouted at Midoriya.

"Sorry, I ended up hearing about, it was a tragic what happened." Midoriya offered his condolences but Kota was having none of it, he looked at the ground and his scowl deepened.

"It's because everyone was showing off, giving each other names like heroes and villains and fighting to the death, they chose to be heroes over staying with me, and wanted to show off their quirks." that's when Midoriya realized that Kota didn't just hate heroes, he hated quirks in general.

"I don't think that's true! They-" Midoriya started but was cut off.

"What do you know?! You're just like them! Now leave me alone! Get out of here!" The boy ordered in an even louder voice. And Midoriya finding no way to talk to him, complied but not before leaving the plat of food in case he changed his mind.

After Kota made sure Midoriya was gone, he was about to head inside the cave when he heard another voice.

"That was very rude of you." Kota looked everywhere for the source of the voice but couldn't find anyone, until something started rising from behind the edge and once it came into full view, it turned out to be Shino. Needless to say, Kota wasn't happy that two people now know where his secret hideout was.

"How do you people keep finding my secret hideout?" Kota asked annoyed and irritated, and Shino's smirk wasn't helping either.

"Aren't you gonna eat that? I worked hard to make it?" Shino ignored Kota's question in favor of asking his own.

"Screw your food!" Kota looked at the plat like it was the source of all his misery and was about kick it when a small golden plat scooped it out of his way.

"Hey! Even if you're angry, you shouldn't waste food." Shino said as the plat came to his hand, without anything falling off.

"What do you want from me?!" Kota asked and Shino just hoped of his board and next to Kota.

"I just want to talk to you because we're very similar."

"What are you talking about?" Kota looked offended at the idea that he was similar to Shino in any way.

"Like you, I lost my parents at a young age and for a while, I too hated quirks, mainly my own but still." Shino walked to the edge and sat down, his smirk replaced with a sad smile. He glanced at Kota and saw his expression of resentment was gone and instead he was in pure shock at what he just learned.

Shino Motioned to the boy to set beside him but he was still hesitant, that was until the Kota's stomach started to grumble which earned a chuckle from Shino as he once again presented the plat full of food to him. Kota finally relented and sat next to Shino taking the plat and digging in. it was the best food he's ever ate, but he would be damned if he showed that to the boy next to him.

"Tell me Kota, do you really hate heroes that much? I know your parent were heroes." Shino asked, still looking ahead, and Kota stopped eating for a moment.

"Yes, I hate them, if my parents weren't heroes, if they weren't so obsessed with showing off instead of staying with me, they would still be alive." Kota's grip of the spoon tightened as he talked.

"So, does that mean you hate your parents?" Kota didn't say a word and just continued eating.

"Tell me Kota, what do you think will happen if heroes didn't exist?" By now Kota had finished eating and thought about it, but Shino wasn't looking for an answer. He moved his arm in front of Kota and folded his sleeve showing the scars that covered it.

Kota was so shocked that he started backing away in horror. "What…What happened to you?" He asked in distraught.

"My house burned down, the heroes didn't show up on time. That was how I lost my parents, and I hated the heroes because they didn't save them. You see Kota, that's what will happen if heroes weren't there." Shino's low voice and his expression only added to Kota's horror.

Shino stood up while still looking at Kota and walked towards him stopping just before he reached him and crouched down, "Do you really think you father and mother didn't want spend time with you?" Shino asked with warm smile that brought Kota out of his horrified state and being reminded of his parents angered him.

"What other reason could they have to fight that villain instead of running away?! They wanted to show off like all the other heroes, they didn't care what will happen to me!" Kota screamed his sorrow out.

"I believe they didn't do it to show off but to protect you." Shino's words shocked Kota to his core but how could that be? That couldn't be true.

"What are you talking about? I wasn't even there!" Kota shouted in Shino's face.

"But you might have been, if they ran away from that serial killer, how many more people would've died by his hands, your parents' worked close to home so they can return to you as fast as possible and that meant if they let him go, he will kill more people and his next victim could possibly have been you. I think they wanted to make the world a safer place for you, and so made that decision, not just as heroes, but as parents." Kota heard this and it was like something inside him broke, the realization that his parents did this for him, they sacrificed their lives for him, and all he did was hate them for it was too much and his eyes started watering. Shino immediately enveloped him in comforting hug and allowed him cry all he wanted and release all those bent emotions.

"I…I….I just miss them so much!" Kota cried out while Shino comforted him, rubbing his back and not moving to not disturb him.

"I know, I know." It was true, Shino knew what Kota felt right now. Even though it's been ten years, a day didn't go by without him thinking about his parents.

After Kota finally stopped crying, Shino parted from him while still having his hands on the boy's shoulder, "Now Kota, can you promise me that you won't hate heroes again?" the boy nodded with while rubbing the tears from his eyes. Shino smiled at the response. "Good, now lastly, you need to apologize to Midoriya, you were very rude to him."

"Okay." The two boys stood up and walked to where the others were.

Midoriya was at the moment conversing with both Todoroki and Iida when Shino came behind him and tapped his shoulder. "Sorry to interrupt, but someone wants to talk to you Midoriya." Shino informed the boy and he was rightfully confused until he saw who was standing beside Shino.

"I'm sorry for shouting at you." Kota said and while the other two didn't understand, Midoriya was overjoyed and crouched down to be on eye level with Kota. "You don't have to apologize Kota, I wasn't mindful of your privacy and tried to intrude. How about we just become friends?" Kota accepted the offer with a hug.

Shino, feeling like his mission was complete, walked to the pots to fill a plat of his own since he still hasn't eaten yet, only to find them empty.

"Where is all the food?!" Shino asked

"Sorry, it was so good we kinda ate all of it." Kirishima explained while rubbing the back of his head apologetically.

"What am I supposed to eat then?" Shino couldn't believe this, he worked hard to make that food and couldn't even taste it himself.

"Relax Shino, I saved you a plate." Itsuka came with a full plat and Shino felt tears of joy at the edge of his eyes.

"Itsuka you're my savior!" He exclaimed as he grabbed the plat and started digging only to start chocking. Itsuka chuckled and gave him a cup of water.

"Take it easy, the food isn't going anywhere."

"Thanks." Now free from chocking, he resumed eating but now at a slower pace.

Everyone was having fun talking and relaxing after a hard day of training, they were also informed that there will be an event later on and were very excited for it. Midoriya was talking Kota who was slowly warming up to the older boy. What Midoriya didn't know was that someone was watching him, and what that someone didn't know was that they themselves were being watched.

"It's rude to stare you know." Shino talked behind Uraraka almost giving her a heart attack.

"Shino?! What are you doing?" Uraraka asked clearly flustered and her cheeks redder than usual.

"I was staring at you while you were staring at Midoriya." Shino answered casually ad Uraraka's face turned completely red.

"S-Staring?! I w-wasn't s-staring!" She quickly tried to deny but her face was a clear indication.

"Really now? Then what were you doing?" Shino asked and could see Uraraka rummaging her head thinking of an excuse.

"I was just looking at the forest. Yes! Just looking at the forest and nothing else." Uraraka saw Shino raise an eyebrow clearly not believing her. In all honesty, she wouldn't believe her either.

"Look Uraraka, I'm not an expert at romance and what not."

"But you have a girlfriend."

"And she's as clueless as me. Anyway, I may not know much about romance and I'm not telling you how to live your life but I know this, life is short, shorter than you think, especially in our profession, so don't waste your opportunity and keep things inside your heart, it will only hurt you more and nobody is gonna notice until it's too late. Think about it and decide what want to do." With these words, Shino left Uraraka to think and joined Itsuka at the table again.

"What were you telling her?" Itsuka inquired.

"Just life advice." Shino answered. "It's her job to figure it out now." Itsuka was a little confused but decided not to dwell on it.

In a different part of the forest stood a tall man with black spiky hair, blue eyes, and burned patches of skin on his arms, neck, and under his eyes. He held a communication device in his hand.

"Was the information we received correct?" Came a raspy voice from the device.

"Yes, the students are here as we were informed." The man answered.

"Is everyone at their location?" the voice asked next and several other voices called out announcing that they reached their location.

"Good, let the game begin."

**Thanks for reading.**


	19. Chapter 19

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 19**

Nearing the middle of the night, the students of both classes gathered near the entrance to the forest at the request of their teachers and were told what the even they heard about would be, a test of courage. In short, class 1-B would hide throughout the path and try to scar class 1-A as they walked along it while class 1-A obviously had to not get scared and walk the entire path. Class 1-B were free to divide themselves as they saw fit, but class 1-A were paired in groups of two chosen by the most reliable method, drawing numbers.

"Finally! Some camp games!" Ashido exclaimed while flailing her hand in the air, clearly excited for the hilarities that would ensue from the event. She was also accompanied by Kirishima, Sero, and Kaminari as they all shared the excitement. Sadly, they forgot one crucial detail.

"Not you people." Aizawa said as he came behind the celebrating group ending their celebration right then and there. "Ashido, Kaminari, Kirishima, Sero, and Sato, you will come with me to have your remedial classes." Ashido's face lost all color and contorted from pure joy to pure horror and shock like she went through the scariest test of courage ten times in row.

"BUT SIR!" She cried in agony, "What about the games, we've been training all day, can't we get a bit fun?" She pleaded for her teacher to show mercy, but Aizawa had none to give.

"You five failed your practical exams and right now are below the rest of your classmates who passed, even if barely." He gave a glance at Uraraka and Aoyama and the two felt a chill coming down their spines. "You don't have time to goof off, you will work your asses off to at least be on the same level as the others." The others seemed to accept their fate, but Ashido wasn't about to give up having fun for additional classes and attempted to run away. Needless to say, she was easily caught by Aizawa's capture tool and dragged along as the teacher and the other four students parted to the cabins.

When they arrived they were surprised to find Vlad King and Monoma, the only one of class 1-B to fail, were already there. While Monoma still gave off an unfriendly vibe to the class 1-A students, he didn't throw any rude or degrading remarks at them, his usual smug smirk was gone and it's place was a sharp determined look as he focused on the book in front of him only sparing the new arrivals a glance. It surprised them how much Shino's words affected the boy, or it might have confirmed what he thought all along, no body know, but they liked the new Monoma way more than the old one.

Class 1-B were escorted by Ragdoll so they can prepare their roles while class 1-A were deciding the pairs and their order. Kota held the box containing the numbered cards for the students to draw from, while he no longer harbored resentment to the heroes-in-training, they were still strangers to him and he didn't know how to act exactly, but his normal scowl had disappeared and replaced by a neutral face.

"Mandalay, allow me to ask, what if we accidentally get out of the designated road and get lost in the forest?" Asked the responsible class president.

"Don't worry, Ragdoll's quirk allows her to track the location of up to a hundred people and her range is very wide." Mandalay explained. "And my quirk allows me to send telepathic messages to all of you in case of an emergency."

Shino was paired with Midoriya and the two were the last group to head into the bath, which was both good and bad. Good because it gave them time to prepare themselves, not that Shino needed it, and for Midoriya to talk a bit more with Kota as the kid seemed a bit on edge when others were around, and bad because the screams that sounded from time to time didn't help the green-haired boy's nerves he was trying to steel.

Suddenly the scent of something burning could be smelled and black smoke could be seen in the distance.

"Is something burning?" Asked Midoriya while pointing in the direction the smoke seemed to come from.

Mandalay immediately tried to contact Ragdoll to see if something was wrong, "Ragdoll did something happen? What's going on?" But no response came back. "Ragdoll! Can you hear me?" She tried again but she still got nothing. "Something is wrong, Ragdoll isn't answering my calls." Mandalay informed Pixie Pop and Tiger, but before either could react to the news, a strange red aura surrounded Pixie Pop and she was pulled back towards the forest before a metal poll dropped on her head probably causing a cunctation and definitely knocking her out. Everyone watched in horror as a hand was placed on the pole, a muscular figure came into view with red smooth hair that reached their shoulder, big lips that were currently arced in smirk, and was wearing sunglasses even though it was night. They were wearing casual clothes.

"Hello Heroes!" the figure exclaimed.

"Bastard! Who are you and how dare you injure Pixie Pop's face like that?!" Tiger shouted furious as he lunched himself at the figure. However, before he could reach him, what could only be described as an amalgamation of blades and knives somehow held together came his way but thanks to his quirk which allows him stretch, bend, and flatten his body, he managed to dodge the attack, but the strange weapon's wielder went for another attack that was stopped by Mandalay using the sharp claws on her cate-themed gloves as weapons.

The owner of the strange weapon looked to have reptilian skin with green scales and purple hair and wore an outfit eerily similar to Stain's outfit.

"You will not harm big sis Magne." The owner said as he took the side of the now named Magne.

"Who are you people? And what are doing here?" Mandalay demanded an answer.

"My name is Spinner and we are the league of villains. We've come to take down the fake heroes!" The humanoid lizard shouted as if it was a war cry.

"The league of villains?! How did they know we're here? And how did they come this close without Ragdoll picking up on them?" Midoriya kept throwing questions trying to make sense of this as he held the terrified Kota close to him, until it hit him, "Unless…" he didn't want to voice the rest of his idea.

"They took down Ragdoll." Shino said it anyway.

Hearing this sent the two remaining members of the Pussy Cats into a fit of rage, not only did the league injure Pixie Pop, but now they seemed to have already attacked Ragdoll with her fate unknown. Mandalay turned to the two students behind her.

"You two, take Kota and Pixie Pop and run to where Eraser Head is!" She ordered with authority clear in her voice. This was no laughing matter after all.

"But what about the others in the forest?" Midoriya asked concerned about his classmates and class 1-B who had no idea what was going on.

"Don't worry, I sent a message to all students telling them what's going on and instructing them to head there too. Now go!" The two nodded and Shino sent a golden platform that scooped Pixie Pop from under Magne's pole and when she tried to stop him, she were stopped by Tiger as the two engaged in combat.

The platform carrying Pixie Pop stopped next Shino only to move again along with him and Midoriya who was carrying Kota as they ran to the safe zone.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Screamed Spinner as he once again raised his weapon and prepared to attack the fleeing students. "I remember you two! You were with the fake heroes that took down Stain! I will never forgive you!" He somehow managed to jump in the air and at Shino, but before he could hit anything, Mandalay Kicked him to the side stopping his attack short.

"Your opponent is right here lizard boy." She made a challenging motion with her hand to enrage him along with the nickname.

"My name is Spinner! Not lizard boy!" It worked and his attention was now only on her giving Shino and Midoriya the time to escape.

"Will they be okay?" Kota asked still affected by seeing real villains and what they did to Pixie Pop.

"Yeah don't worry. They might be specialized in search and rescue but they can hold their own in a fight." Midoriya assured the boy.

Kota shook his head and tears were starting to gather under his eyes. "I know the Pussy Cats can fight, I was talking about your classmates. Will they be fine on their own?" This shocked Midoriya and Shino, but their shock was quickly replaced by a smile.

"Don't worry Kota, we might not have the experience the Pussy Cats or Mr. Aizawa have, but we've seen our fair share of villains and always came on top." Midoriya reassured the boy.

"Class 1-B are no weaker than us." Shino added, he certainly worried about Itsuka, but he knew she was strong and will know what to do.

Kota whipped the tears from his eyes and a determined look was place on his face, "Yeah!"

The group were slowly approaching the cabin when they saw Aizawa running at them. He looked a bit tired and worried, and for a minute Shino thought he saw relief in his eyes when he noticed them approaching, but it was gone as fast as it came.

"Shino, Midoriya, what's the situation right now and who is attacking us." Aizawa quickly asked the two seeing Pixie Pop's state and wanting to get a better understanding of what's going on.

"It's the league of villains again Sir." You could see Aizawa twitch a little at the mention of the name. "Two of their members attacked us by surprise and managed to knock out Pixie Pop and are now engaging Mandalay and Tiger. We also think they took down Ragdoll. We still have no idea what their goal is."

Aizawa took a moment to absorb the situation then turned to Shino and Midoriya, he knew what he was about to do was huge risk, but at this point, they had no choice. "Listen you two, one of you will have to go back to Mandalay to deliver a massage, tell her to send a message to all the students that they are allowed to use they're quirks to engage the enemy, but only as a last resort, escaping and reaching the cabins should be their top priority."

"I'll do it!" Shino volunteered, "With my board, I'll be faster and I could take a look from above to see if there was anything else worth notifying."

Aizawa nodded and carried the unconscious Pixie Pop. Before Shino head out, Kota grabbed the end of his sleeve, "Please be careful." Was all he said. Shino smiled at the little boy and gave him a thumbs up before hopping on the board and taking off.

Shino didn't waste time to rise in altitude in order to get a clear view of the situation throughout the forest, and didn't look good. On one side, blue flames were eating away at the forest probably to drive the students in the other direction, which could be even worse since on the other side, pinkish-purple gas, that Shino didn't know the effect of, has spread wide covering a big portion of the forest. However, Shino noticed something weird about the gas but had no time to investigate, he needed to reach Mandalay quick.

Mandalay was facing a bit of trouble with the lizard-boy as she keeps calling him or Spinner as he keeps reminding her, while he lacked any technique and was just swinging his crude weapon around, the size of the makeshift sword and the damage it could make were hard to counter with just her claws and Spinner was surprisingly strong being able swing that thing around with little effort. She dodged a slash but suddenly found herself in the way of a downward slash, before Spinner could move his blade, his hand was suddenly covered in gold and he couldn't move it.

"What the hell is that?!" He shouted in a mix of anger and confusion.

Mandalay didn't waste a moment and delivered a powerful kick to the villain's stomach sending him a few meters away. Shino then landed next to her. "Shino! What are you doing here?!" She asked the boy.

"I have a message from Mr. Aizawa that he wants you to pass to all of the students."

"A message from Eraser Head?"

"Yes, he says all students have the permission to use their quirks to engage the villains, but only if they encounter one and can't escape, their top priority must still be reaching the safe zone at the cabins."

"Understood, I'll pass the order right now."

"One more thing, tell them that the camp is to the south, to the north east a fire is spreading fast, I'll be there trying to control its advance, anyone near that area should head there to meet me. To the west, there is a strange purple gas with unknown effects. However, its movements are strange, it doesn't seem to spread randomly, but is swirling around like a tornado, it probably is the doing of one of the villains' quirks."

The two noticed Spinner getting up and readying himself to attack again, Mandalay turned to Shino, "Is that everything?"

"Yes, but please make sure to tell everything I said to the others."

"Of course."

"Good, I'll be going now, I have a fire to put out." Shino hopped back on his board and headed to the forest, but at the entrance, he passed Tiger and Magne exchanging blows. Magne took this opportunity to attack Shino.

"Come here you little twerp, let big sis Magne teach you a lesson!" She tried to use her quirk to pull Shino towards her but left herself open for an attack from Tiger breaking her quirk's hold on Shino and he took off as fast as he could towards the fire.

Itsuka was worried when she heard Mandalay's message saying that Shino was out there alone trying to put out the fire with villains possibly everywhere, but she had trust in Shino's ability and that he can handle himself, besides, she had bigger problems to deal with. Right now she and Tetsutetsu were traversing the strange fog that enveloped the forest, if Shino's observation was correct, then there should be someone at the center of this fog controlling or at least emitting it, and defeating them was top priority if they wanted to make it out alive.

When the gas started appearing, Itsuka was with Juzo and Kodai where they were supposed to scare Class 1-A, she was quick to notice it and cover her nose, and using her enlarged hand, covered Kodai to protect her, unfortunately Juzo was out of her reach and so succumbed to the gas's hypnotic effect and fell unconscious. Later, she met with Yaoyorozu, Tetsutetsu, Awase, and an unconscious Jiro, Aoyama, who was supposed to be with Yaoyorozu, disappeared when they split up and they couldn't find him in the fog. Yaoyorozu provided the much needed gas mask to Itsuka and Kodai and taking care of Juzo. That's when the group heard Mandalay's message about Aizawa's order, Shino's location, and the supposed nature of the gas. Itsuka and Tetsutetsu decided that they had to stop whoever is the cause in order to allow the rest to return safely and rush deeper into the unknown danger.

"How are we supposed to find this guy?!" Tetsutetsu asked frustrated, they've been searching for some time with no results.

"Let's stop for a moment and think about this Tetsutetsu." Itsuka instructed and he complied, it's not like they had a better plan

"Shino said that it looked like a tornado swirling around a fixed point." Itsuka said and Tetsutetsu nodded in acknowledgement.

"Then it's safe to assume that the user is at the center, so if we figure out the direction it's moving in, we can at least know which direction the villain's at." Tetsutetsu nodded again and both of them started looking carefully at the gas, trying to decipher its movement, it was easy when you were seeing it from above, but when in the middle of it, it was hard to notice the movement unless you stop and focus.

"I saw it!" Tetsutetsu exclaimed and Itsuka turned to him expectedly. "This gas is moving counter clock-wise in this direction!" Tetsutetsu pointed.

"Good, now we know which way should go." The two started running in their new direction with confidence that they were close to finishing the villain and helping their friends.

As they moved through the gas, Itsuka could see the movement of the gas more clearly which meant that they were getting closer to the source. However, it also meant that the gas got even thicker, to the point where they couldn't see their surroundings.

"Tetsutetsu, let's stay close to each other so we don't lose each other in the gas." Before he could answer her, gunshots were heard and Tetsutetsu reeled back in pain, Itsuka quickly came to him to see he was shot. Fortunately, it hit the glass of the mask and not Tetsutetsu. Unfortunately, the mask was damaged and was now useless and he had to remove after holding his breath.

"Are you okay?" Itsuka asked concerned for her friend that just got shot. He nodded since he could talk right now in fear of accidentally inhaling the gas. She moved to help him when he suddenly jumped in front of her, taking another bullet to the head. This time he had activated his quirk turning his skin to iron which meant the bullet pounced of him and didn't do much damage.

"Tetsutesu!" Itsuka calls out her friend's name.

"Is that all you can do?" Comes a strange voice, a bit muffled. As a figure approaches the two students.

"So much for a hero-wannabe." The figure is a bit shorter than Itsuka and wearing a black school uniform coupled with a gas mask and a helmet. He's holding a revolver.

'_This must be the villain responsible for this gas, he doesn't look any older than us. How did he know we were here in this thick gas?_' Thought Itsuka as she stared down the villain.

"You thought you could sneak up on me? How foolish, I can feel your movement through the gas, you can't surprise me." The villain answered Itsuka's unvoiced question while waving his gun around clearly underestimating them both.

That's when Tetsutetsu lungs at him trying to deliver a punch but the villain moves to the side avoiding the attack with ease as if he knew where exactly it was coming from and shoots Tetsutetsu right in the face and while it doesn't severely injure him, it was enough to knock him away as the iron on his body cracks a little. The villain then steps back inside the gas using its thickness to hide his presence while he kept shooting at Tetsutetsu from different directions and Tetsutetsu's iron was cracking even more by the second. "People like you with a one-track mind are really easy to read, the fact that you get fawned at just because you have such a quirk is plain stupid." The villain started to monologue.

Itsuka could see that Tetsutetsu has been holding his breath for an alarming amount of time and was getting exhausted by the villain's repeated attacks, she has to step in and help him. She rushed at the villain from behind but again he easily dodged the attack.

"I told you, you can't sneak up on me, I can feel your every movement within the gas." The villain pointed his gun at Itsuka ready to shoot.

"So what!" Itsuka exclaimed, she enlarged her fist in the villain's face hitting him and knocking him away.

"Damn it!" he shouted and retreated inside the gas to hide his presence and attack from a far, but Itsuka wasn't gonna let him off so easily.

"You hide in your gas instead of facing me." She quickly enlarged her hand and started doing a sweeping motion with both of her hands, this created a strong gust of wind that push the gas away, creating a small area that was gas-free zone and exposing the hiding villain. He tried to point his gun at her but the wind was so strong that he couldn't keep his hand steady.

"And your reliance on that gun means that you have no confidence in fight." The villain felt something approaching him through what little gas he had left and quickly turned around, but he was too late in noticing because Tetsutetsu was already in his face with his fist reeled for a punch. Tetsutetsu's fist collided the villain's face as the hero-hopeful put everything he had left in that punch breaking the gas mask and slamming the villain's head on the ground knocking him unconscious.

With the source defeated, the gas quickly dispersed and Tetsutetsu was finally able to take a breath again now that the air was clear. Itsuka came up to him to check on him.

"Are you ok Tetsutetsu?" she asked as she removed her mask.

"Yeah, it feels good to breathe again." She said as he slumped to the ground breathing heavily and taking his time with every breath.

"Don't relax just yet, we still have to regroup with everyone else."

"Hopefully, everything will be over soon."

Everything was far from over.

Awase, Yaoyorozu, and Kodai were running for their lives from a Nomu that had four arms each shaped as a weapon. Dragging the unconscious Jiro and Juzo made it even harder especially since the Nomu managed to hit Yaoyorozu on the head with a blunt weapon and she was constantly fighting to remain conscious and was basically being dragged too by Awase. They tried to fight the beast but on top of being able to change its arms into weapons, it had a mild regeneration quirk and their attacks did nothing but slow it down a little. Their only option right now was to keep running in hopes of either losing it in the forest or meeting someone with a quirk suitable to fight it, not that they knew many that could.

Bakugo and Todoroki were quietly walking the path set to them for the game looking for other students that might be scattered in the forest, the announcement that villains were attacking the camp was shocking but they both knew it was the right time to panic. That's when they saw a figure in the distance. The figure didn't look like anyone from class 1-B and it was making some weird noises. The two approached the figure slowly keeping their guard up, it was probably a villain but it hadn't noticed them yet. When they got close enough they could see the figure was tall and slender and looked like it was wrapped in black leather suit that encompassed its entire body.

"Who is that?" Todoroki asked with an even voice that had a hint of curiosity.

"How the hell am I gonna know?!" Bakugo shouted at him.

"I wasn't really asking you." Todoroki countered while still keeping his eye on the unknown figure.

"Well you should be more fucking specific half n' half bastard!" Bakugo shouted again.

The conversation alerted the figure and it started turned towards Bakugo and Todoroki which returned their full attention to it. Once it fully turned, they could see that the leather suit not only covered his body but also most of his face, except for his mouth which had something in it was chewing on, when Bakugo an Todoroki looked closely, they were horrified to find that it was a human hand. They couldn't tell whose hand it was, but they both knew that Tokoyami and Shoji were the ones in front of them, this filled them with dread. This villain was eating human flesh and now his sight was locked on them.

"Fresh meat!" At that moment, Mandalay's second message came in time as the villain's teeth extended from his mouth like swords and lunched at the two and Todoroki managed to put up an ice wall for the blades to stab into.

"Like I need to be afraid of a scrawny-ass bastard like that!" Bakugo shouted and moved from behind the ice ready to blow the villain away when Todoroki stopped him.

"Bakugo stop! We're trying to control one fire, if you use your quirk here, you'll start another." Bakugo relented, but that window of opportunity gave the crazy villain the chance to try again to break through the ice to reach Todoroki by extending his teeth again but he saw it and immediately made more ice. The villain, realizing that he won't be able to catch his meal like that, retracted his teeth freeing them from the ice's hold before extending again this time to push himself into the woods, probably to surprise attack from a different place.

Bakugo and Todoroki were in bad situation, with the villain lurking in the shadows, and both of them unable to use their quirks freely, they couldn't afford to make a single mistake. Their salvation when they heard a loud noise that was coming closer and closer, they both readied themselves expecting another villain to appear, but instead, it was Shoji looking pretty beat up and scared. When he noticed his two classmates, his eyes lit up as if he was finally saved.

"Todoroki! Bakugo! Tokoyami's dark shadow has gone berserk! Can you two stop it?!" He quickly shouted trying to explain the situation as fast as possible. The new edition lured the cannibalistic villain out.

"Fresh Meat!" he shouted as he lunged at Shoji only to be swatted away crashing into several trees by a huge Dark Shadow with red eyes. Being dragged by Dark Shadow was Tokoyami who looked to be struggling to regain control.

"How the fuck did he get that big?!" Bakugo asked Shoji not even giving him time to catch his breath.

"That villain just now attacked us and we managed to hide from him but in his last attack he was going at Tokoyami, I extended an arm to push away but it was cut by the blade teeth. Tokoyami seeing this probably brought out Dark Shadow in a fit of rage and with us being in night, Dark Shadow went berserk and started attacking indiscriminately." The multi-armed boy explained, it didn't take much for the other two to know what they had to do. And in good timing too, since Dark Shadow was now heading their way after disposing of the villain. The two students of class 1-A didn't waste any time subduing the rampaging entity with Todoroki igniting a small flame in his hand and Bakugo firing a serious of consecutive small blasts and rush Dark Shadow from both sides causing it to retreat back inside Tokoyami in fear.

"I…I'm sorry, thank you two for saving me." Tokoyami said in heavy voice now that he was finally in control again.

"Are you okay Tokoyami?" Shoji came to check on his friend offering a hand to help him get up.

"I fine, thank you Shoji." Tokoyami replied as he took his hand and stood up.

"Move it you two, we need to check on the fucker Dark Shadow just wasted to make sure he's out for good." Bakugo said and the four boys started walking in the direction they last saw the villain thrown in.

When they found him he was slumped against a tree unconscious and his teeth were completely broken beyond repair along with many of his bones. They would've felt bad for him if he didn't literally try to eat them, except Bakugo, Bakugo wouldn't have cared either way.

Suddenly they heard someone's voice and what looked like fighting noises and started heading in that direction. When they arrived they found Uraraka had apprehended another girl they didn't recognize pinning her on the ground with her arm behind her back. while Tsu was pinned to a tree by her hair with knife. The brunette turned around to see her friends and Bakugo and was happy to see them, but that moment of distraction was enough for the girl to grab at her weapon and try to stab Uraraka, but she saw her and instinctively jumped back to dodge the blade. The girl shot up with her weapon ready in her hand and a crazy grin on her face, but seeing how many people she was up against, even she knew she stood no chance and opted to escape into the forest. Bakugo was about to chase after her but Todoroki stopped him.

"We shouldn't chase after her, she could have allies or traps ready for us and we still don't know what the villains' goal is. Mr. Aizawa said our priority is reaching the safe zone." Todoroki rationed.

"Don't fucking tell me what to do half n' half bastard!" Despite his shouting, Bakugo knew Todoroki was right but didn't wanna admit it. He turned to Uraraka while Tokoyami was removing the knife holding Tsu to the tree, "Who was that crazy bitch anyways?"

"She said her name was Himiko Toga, she didn't use any quirk and only used knives and that weird device she had, but she's no amateur." Uraraka said a bit irritated by Bakugo's tone.

"Let's all head to where Shino is, I'm sure other student thought the same thing so it's better that we join them." Todoroki suggested and everyone agreed.

Shino had a plan to control the fire, by turning the trees in its path to gold the fire won't have anything to feed on and will die out in time. He just finished closing the fire's path towards the camp and all that's left was closing the other path to trap the fire in a square formation and make sure it doesn't spread in any other direction.

"Good, with this the camp should be safe from the fire, I check if anyone was trapped between the burning trees, and thankfully no one was here. This shout also serve as a good beckon to the others to find me." Shino said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with pride.

Just as he was about to hop on his board and head to the other side to block it as well, something came crashing down in front of him shaking the ground as a big hole was created where it collided.

"What the hell was that?!" Shino approached the hole slowly, he hoped it wasn't a student since most of the students he knew would survive such an impact, but what was waiting for him was even worse than an injured student.

"Damn, that gave a he headache." A voice sounded from the hole as a hulking figure walked out of the hole with its features still hidden by the sand kicked in the air when it collided. As the view became clearer, Shino could see the figure was a very muscular man with short spiky ash-blond hair and a nasty scar over his prostatic eye. He was he was wearing a red tank top and black jeans. "Maybe jumping wasn't the best idea." The man said while rubbing the back of his head trying to ease his headache. That's when he noticed Shino in front of him, and he smiled a toothy smile that told Shino was bad news, not that he needed it, the moment he saw the man he could feel the bloodlust aura surrounding him, he knew that what's in front of him was a villain, and a dangerous one at that.

"Who the hell are you?" Shino interrogated while making sure not to drop his guard even for a second and scanning the area around him for a quick escape.

"How lucky! I found someone to play with right away! The name's Muscular, and you'll be entertaining me for a while little boy, make sure not to die too quick now, okay." The man exclaimed excited and pumped his fist together.

Shino immediately recognized the name, he remembered Midoriya telling him that Kota's parents was a serial killer named Muscular. At that moment, Shino's priorities changed from finding a way to escape to finding the best way to beat the murderer in front of him as rage rose deep within him. The logical side of him was still in the back of his brain reminding him of Aizawa's instructions, but that part was quickly silenced by the emotional part of him that told him Muscular must be defeated and made to pay for all the people he killed and sadness he inflicted, especially to Kota.

"So you're Muscular huh?" Shino said with venom spewing from his mouth.

"Oh! You know me?!" Muscular looked surprised.

"Of course, you're the lowlife that killed the hero duo Water Hose right?" Shino now had a very dark look on his face although he kept a calm facade.

"Who? Sorry kid, I killed a lot of people including heroes, you're gonna have to be more specific." Muscular said and chuckled and this just added fuel to Shino's rage, he killed so much people that he could even remember, this man deserves to be executed for his crimes!

"How could you forget the one who took your left eye?" Shino point at the fake eye and then it clicked for Muscular.

"Now I remember! So what, you want to take revenge on me for them?" Muscular asked with a bit of irritation.

"I WILL get revenge on you, not just for Water Hose, but for everyone you killed!" Shino's calm façade dropped and his rage was now very evident.

"How boring, we clashed to because we had clashing goals and the result was they lost, you heroes are too naïve!" Muscular finally made a move as muscle fibers stretched around his body and he lunched himself at Shino like a cannon ball. Shino quickly hopped on his board and avoided the attack and made some distance.

"All that talk about revenge and all you did was run away the moment I came at you. Didn't you say I would pay for the ones I killed? Then come at me! Fight me! Show me your blood!" Muscular laughed maniacally as he stacked even more muscle fibers on his body. Shino noticed where Muscular was standing right now, in front of the golden trees, and smirked.

"What, did you get a plan for your revenge?" Muscular asked mockingly. "SO, show me! Or should come to you and crack your head open to see it for myself?!"

Without talking, Shino simply motions and the trees next to Muscular start to grow spikes, these spikes then get shot at Muscular rapidly and at high speeds.

"What the fuck?!" Muscular was taken aback by the unexpected attack and quickly increased the muscles to stop the spikes from injuring him. The muscles were so strong and thick that the spikes would just get embedded only to be thrown out while doing minimal damage.

'_Damn it! How strong are these fibers? There has to be a limit, if I can't injure him, how am I supposed to win?_' Shino was thinking of a plan when Muscular's angry shout cut his train of thought.

"You little bastard! That actually hurt!" Muscular once again lunched himself at Shino but this time, Shino managed to dodge it by a mile, that's when he realized one of the drawbacks of Muscular's quirk.

"Because of the added weight of the muscle fibers he keeps stacking, what he gains in strength, he loses in speed and mobility. Coating him in gold wouldn't be a good idea, he's easily strong enough to break it and giving him a gold armor would make things worse." Shino was trying to come up with a plan when he heard a voice he thought he wouldn't hear anytime soon.

"Shino!" Iida called out, he was running towards Shino along with Ojiro, Koda, and Mineta. Unfortunately, Muscular also saw the group.

"New toys to play with! Hopefully you'd be more fun than that guy!" He lunched himself at them but Iida grabbed the other three by the back of their caller and using his quirk managed to get out of the villain's path of destruction. Shino quickly came to his friends' side.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Who is that guy?" Iida asked.

"His name is Muscular, he's a serial killer and one of the league of villains' lackeys attacking the camp.

"A-A serial killer! What is he doing here?" Mineta was already shaking in boots.

"He came to play a chess game with us, he's a very enthusiastic chess player. Why the hell do you think he's doing here Mineta?! He came to kill us!" Shino scolded the short boy.

"We should find a way to escape him." Iida suggested but Shino shook his head.

"No, this guy killed many people, we can't let him escape, we have to defeat him now!" Shino said and took a step forward. "If want to escape I can give an opening, but I'm stay right here."

"There is no way we're letting you fight him alone, if you're gonna fight, then we're fighting with you." Iida said and both Ojiro and Koda nodded in agreement. Mineta tried to sneak away but Ojiro's tail came in his way. "You too Mineta." Said Ojiro as he dragged Mineta next to them.

Shino smile at his friends' support, "Good, because I have a plan and I need all your help." He saw Muscular coming at them again. "There's no time to tell you the whole plan so just follow my instructions." They nodded. "Ojiro and Iida, you two do the same thing you did in the finals. Target the head and Iida don't use your recipro burst unless necessary." The two nodded and Ojiro jumped on Iida's back and they head off to face Muscular. The hulking villain saw the two coming and tried to swat them but was too slow and Iida managed to deliver a powerful kick to the side of his head. Muscular didn't flinched but tried to catch the two again but again he was too slow as Iida had already passed him. Ojiro quickly wrapped his tail around a tree and used it adjust Iida's trajectory and the due came from behind him and delivered another kick to the back of his head.

Muscular was starting to feel the effects of the multiple hits on the head as his vision was getting blurry and this angered him to no end. "Stay still you annoying mosquitos so I can crush you!" He screamed out.

Seeing the first part of his plan succeeding, Shino turned to Koda, "Koda can you order some of the birds and rodents to attack Muscular? I doubt there will be much left because of the fire but bring as much as you can and tell them to attack the hinges of his arms and legs." Koda furiously nodded and started shouting at the top of his lungs for any animal to head his voice. Luckily, some birds and squirrels were still near and came to his aid biting and picking at the muscle tissue at Muscular's arms and legs as instructed. This caused him great pain but also greatly hindered his movements.

"You damn critters! Get away from me!" Muscular was about to swat at the animals when another kick to came to the side of his head.

At that moment Muscular was done with it, he screamed loudly and started running wanting to get away. That's when Shino turned to Mineta, "Mineta! Now is our chance! Throw your balls at his legs!" He shouted and the small grape boy threw more balls than needed and was panicking and bleeding but some the balls he threw reached their target and immediately Shino lunched two golden lines and as soon as they attached to the sticky balls, he reeled them in tripping Muscular causing him to fall on his face.

"Iida now! Finish it with an axe kick!" Shino shouted to his friend and he immediately complied. With Ojiro's help, he was able to ascend above the villain who was trying to get up and activated his recipro burst and came crashing down on the serial killer's head with an axe kick that knocked him out.

Mineta and Koda, seeing the villain knocked out, ran to their friends to congratulate them. Shino just looked at the villain with a sense of satisfaction.

'_We avenged your parents Kota._' He thought as he took a step forward only to feel a weird feeling like his head was spinning.

Iida and Ojiro were standing next to Muscular's unconscious body when Mineta and Koda came to their side. "It's finally over!" Shouted Mineta as he kicked Muscular's side.

"Stop that Mineta! Hurry up and stick him to the ground so we won't escape if he wakes up." Iida ordered and Mineta silently complied.

"This wouldn't have been possible without Shino's plan." Iida said then turned to thank Shino, but strangely, he couldn't find him. He looked around to see if Shino had just moved but there was absolutely no trace of him. This caused the class president to panic and he quickly turned to Mineta and Koda. "Mineta, Koda, where did Shino go?"

"What are you talking about Iida?" Mineta mocked as he stood up after pinning Muscular. "He's right….here." he looked around and saw that there was no trace of Shino anywhere. "Where did he go? He was just here." Mineta asked slightly panicked.

"Watch out everyone! This might be a villain!" Iida quickly returned to his classmates' side as the four of them pressed their backs to each other to cover all angles. A voice came from the forest and they all took fighting stances while mentally preparing to face whatever comes and save their friend.

The outline of a figure appeared between the trees, "Identify yourself!" Iida demanded in a loud voice trying to sound as intimidating as possible.

"Iida?" came a familiar female voice Iida recognized and it put his heart at ease and he dropped his stance. From the woods came Uraraka, followed by Todoroki, Tokoyami, Shoji, and Tsu. "Oh my god! It is you! Thank god you're unharmed!" She exclaimed and run to her friend and hugged him glad that they found each other, Todoroki and the rest also gathered and everyone was happy to see each other. Uraraka looked around then turned to Iida slightly concerned. "Iida? Where is Shino? Shouldn't he have been here too?" her question reminded Iida of the dilemma he was facing and he immediately frowned.

"Watch out! Shino disappeared suddenly after we defeated this villain and we think it's another villain hiding in the shadows. Good thing you five met with us before he found you." Iida told them but they had an expression of confusion.

"Iida, we're six people." Todoroki stated and it grabbed Iida's attention as he turned towards the new group and mentally counted again and again they were five.

"No your five. Uraraka, Todoroki, Shoji, Tokoyami, Tsu. Five people." Iida told Todoroki with an I-told-you-so tone.

"What about Bakugo?" Todoroki turns around to see where he is only to find no trace of him.

"What are you talking about Todoroki? Bakugo wasn't with you when you came." Iida stated and the rest of the group started looking around panicked.

"How?! He was just with us?" Tokoyami said as he looked around, then it clicked for Iida.

"He must've been attacked by the same attacked by the same villain that took Shino!"

"What are gonna do now?! We can't let the villains take them!" Uraraka said as she kept looking around trying to find any lead on where the villain is.

"We won't, we first have to find the villain. Shoji, can you try trace any unusual sounds." Shoji nodded and turned all his arms to ears and stretched them to gain the maximum range he could. After a short time he caught something, "These seems to be a sound of someone running or jumping in that direction." He pointed in the direction he heard the sound from and everyone rushed in that direction hoping to catch up to the villain.

A long distance away, a man was jumping from tree to tree moving fast towards his destination. He was wearing a brown long coat and a top hat, his face was covered by a mask with black and white patterns on it. "I can't believe I found the two targets so close to each other, I should hurry to the meeting point so we can make our escape." He noticed something coming closer and wanting to be caught when he was so close, he sped up and made more distance.

Iida couldn't go at full speed since he wouldn't know the villains location without Shoji, that's when an idea came to him, he quickly turned to Uraraka. "Uraraka make Shoji weightless, and Shoji hop on my back, we'll need to catch the villain as fast as possible." The two nodded and Uraraka erased Shoji's gravity and he got on Iida's back.

"The villain's this way, and I can hear other people close by." Shoji informed Iida.

"This is not good, we need to hurry. Everyone try to catch up as fast as possible!" He shouted as he used the full power he could muster out of his quirk.

The masked villain finally reached a clearing where Kurogiri, Toga, the villain with the burnt skin, and a villain with a full body suit that was mostly black with while and grey markings and the top of his head was colored white.

"Mr. Compress you're back! What brought you here?" The villain with body suit said the two part with completely different tones.

"I have acquired the targets." Mr. Compress informed his co-leagues.

"Excellent." Kurogiri said, amusement in his voice.

"That's awesome! That's bad." The body suit villain reacted two times.

"Shut up Twice." The burnt skin villain scolded the now named Twice.

"Sorry." Twice lowered his head before shooting up again, "You shut up Dabi!" he snapped at him.

Kurogiri proceeded to open portals for the members that were still in the field. Spinner and Magne pushed Tiger and Mandalay and jumped through the portal. The Nomu seized chasing the student and headed to the portal but not before Awase managed to stick something that Yaoyorozu gave him on the monster.

"It seems Mustard, Moonfish, and Muscular were all defeated, but that doesn't matter, we have out targets and should move now." Kurogiri said as he opened a big portal for the four villains to go through. As the portal was closing, Iida finally managed to reach them only to witness portal he knew too well close and with it two of his classmates were gone. Iida fell to his knees and slammed his fists on the ground and screamed to the heavens while Shoji stood next to him and stared in disbelief. Not long after, the rest arrived to find Iida and shoji alone with their heads lowered in shame. They didn't need to be told to understand, they failed and two of their classmates were taken by the villains. Mandalay's voice sounded I their heads telling them that the heroes and police have come but they knew it was too late and quietly walked back to the camp.

At the camp, Itsuka watched as many of her friends were carried in ambulances and taken to hospitals to be treated. Although she felt bad for them, part of her was thankful that Shino wasn't among them. She turned to the students that were still conscious and looked around trying to find Shino, but couldn't find him and was starting to worry. She noticed Iida, Midoriya, Uraraka, Todoroki, and Tsu standing to the side with an expression of defeat on all their faces. Her heart was beating fast and she felt her chest tighten as her breathing came in short bursts, she feared the worst as she approached and Iida was the first to notice her, his face went through many expressions, shock, anger, guilt, sadness, and with each change, Itsuka's chest became tighter and her fears grew bigger.

"Iida, where is Shino?" She asked in very low and cracked voice.

Iida didn't look her in the eye and gritted his teeth in frustration at his own failure, "Shino and Bakugo were kidnaped by the villains. We were unable to save them in time, I'm sorry."

Iida's word were the last thing Itsuka remembered, everything else was a blur when she tried to remember, she knew she cried, or rather she discovered she cried when she finally regained her self-awareness in the hospital they were taken to. The words just kept playing in her head over and over like a broken record. Even after waking from her half-sleep she felt empty inside, how could this happen? Why did it happen? Why Shino? What's gonna happen now? The heroes will save him right? That last question sparked a small fire of hope in her, Shino was always an optimist, he always found the good between the bad, and she had to do the same, she can't fall to despair now when there still hope, Shino was no weakling and the heroes will definitely save him. She just had to have hope and trust in them.

Shino woke up feeling a huge headache and his vision was blurry, he tried to move his hand to rub the back of his head but found that he couldn't move his hand, as a matter of fact, he could move his body at all, and the sound of metal clanging with each other came with his every try to move. His eyes shot open and he became aware of where he was. A small room with no paint and only one window, the room was mostly empty with only the chair he was chained to.

"Good morning sleeping beauty." A voice Shino despised came from in front of him and he looked up to find Shigaraki sitting on a foldable chair in front of him, behind him were Mr. Compress and Twice, and to his left was the only exit of the room.

"Shigaraki, what do you want from me?" Shino asked very irritated.

"Me? I don't want anything from you, you're just a side quest I have to do along with the main quest." Shigaraki explained and Shino raised an eyebrow.

"Side quest? And since when do you help others, even if their also villains?" Shino questioned skeptical of Shigaraki's intentions.

"They provided us with you people's location and some equipment to help and in exchange they just wanted you, how could I refuse such a deal?" Shigaraki said chuckling.

"They wanted me? And why would anyone want to kidnap me?" Shino asked trying to get the information out of Shigaraki who was more than willing to give them.

"I believe they're an old acquaintance of yours, they go by the name Apotheosis, ring any bells?" Shigaraki asked with a hidden grin.

The second Shino heard that name, years of torture and suffering came crashing down on him, "NO WAY! Apotheosis is dead, they're gone and destroyed!" Shino shouted and kept trying to release himself from his binding but couldn't. His eyes showed great panic and it was everything Shigaraki wanted to see and more.

"HAHAHAHAHA you think Apotheosis is dead?! They've been here since the beginning of quirks, they won't just disappear like that, how naïve and stupid are you?!" Shigaraki continue to laugh loudly. Shino at that moment stopped struggling against the chains and sat quietly, his head fixed down at his lap and hair covering his eyes.

Shigaraki stood up from his chair, "You two, watch him until the people from Apotheosis come to take him." He ordered the two that stood behind him and headed to the door opening it before he stopped and turned to Shino, "Make yourself comfortable while you're here, I'm sure you'll miss it." Shino didn't react in any way and seeing his fun ended he walked out closing the door behind him and went to meet his second guest.

Bakugo was chained to a chair and was staring down several villains as they went about either sitting at the bar to his side or on the couch in front of him and just stare at him.

"What are you staring at fuckers! I will kill all of you!" He threatened but none of them seemed to fear him which was a new feeling for Bakugo, to not be feared or intimidated by. He was about to spew another stream of threats and insults when he heard a door open and close and the leader of league of villains came into his view.

"Katsuki Bakugo, good to see you're awake and in high spirits." The hand covered villain greeted.

"The fuck do you want?" Bakugo gave no respect for the villain, and why should he?

"We're not your enemies Bakugo, in fact, we wish for you to be our ally." Bakugo raised an eyebrow but said nothing, Shigaraki took this a sign to continue. "We saw how the hero society is repressing you, always telling not to express yourself, putting all these laws and regulation to hinder you, join us Bakugo and you can be free to do as you please, you won't have to answer to anyone anymore and you could unleash all your destructive tendencies to your heart's content." Again Bakugo said nothing.

"Dabi, release his chains and cuffs." Shigaraki ordered and everyone looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Are you sure about that boss?" Questioned Dabi.

"We can't show him how sincere we are when we're treating him like a prisoner and not a friend." Shigaraki said and Dabi just shrugged and went to loosen the binds.

The moment the chains unlocked, Bakugo jumped out the seat and stood in front of the league, Shigaraki walked towards him with open arms only to receive an explosion in the face knocking the hand that covered it away.

"I stayed quiet and let you talk but all that came out was horse shit! Join you? Yeah right! You losers couldn't defeat me so you want me to join you, but sorry, I like All-Might, I like the way he always wins, no matter what situation, he always comes on top!" Bakugo exclaimed as small buffs of smoke came from his palms.

Shigaraki wasn't paying attention to any of this, his main concern was getting his hand back and on his face, once he did that he slowly stood up but before he could say or do anything, the door he came from was kicked away and out came Shino dragging the unconscious bodies of Mr. Compress and Twice as he dropped them on the ground in front of everybody.

"Goldie lox! What are doing here?!" Bakugo asked but then noticed that Shino was acting normal, he seemed to not register his presence and was only staring at Shigaraki with absolute rage that Bakugo never saw before, Bakugo wasn't sure what happened to him but Shino didn't look like he would differentiate friend from foe.

"Where…" Shino talked in low voice that everybody almost didn't hear him.

"What?" Shigaraki asked.

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE THEY?" the volume of Shino's voice raised from whispering to ear-shattering in an instant and he extended his hand and suddenly a golden blade shot from his hand into Shigaraki's shoulder pinning him to the wall before anybody could react.

Shino was about to jump at the villain and the others were about to attack, when a sound came from the outside.

"Pizza delivery." Said the voice and before anybody could comment the wall next to the door and where Spinner was standing crashed down as All-Might came through it knock Spinner out immediately. Right after All-Might, came Kamui Woods using his special attack to encase every villain in prison of wood. Dabi tried to burn the bindings but was knocked out when Gran Torino delivered a powerful kick to his face. Shigaraki ordered Kurogiri to teleport everyone but found him unconscious as the hero Edge Shot had come out of his body having messed with it to knock him out.

Shigaraki was about to curse at All-Might when the blade still in his shoulder twisted and he screamed in pain.

"I said tell me where the fuck are they?!" Shino demanded again. "Say it you lowlife before I completely carve out your shoulder!" All-Might and the other heroes were taken aback by the brutality of the boy and the rage they could see in his eyes.

Before All-Might could attempt to calm his student, all the league members along with Shino and Bakugo started spewing a thick dark liquid, the liquid then swallowed them teleporting them to a warehouse or what was left of one, on the ground were several heroes laying defeated and only one man was standing. He was wearing a black suit that looked to be high in quality. He had a weird machine that connected to a creepy mask that covered his face. When Bakugo saw that man and what he did, the amount of bloodlust he gave off made Bakugo shiver he could already see his dead body on the ground underneath the man's foot and remembered what All-Might said about there being people no one man can beat. Shino on the other hand didn't pay attention to the man and was solely focused on Shigaraki.

All-Might came shortly after and collided with the man who somehow managed to block the hero's punch. Shigaraki ordered the one of his league that were still conscious to attack Shino and Bakugo so they can take them once more and as the two blonds were fighting, Shino kept trying to reach Shigaraki only to be stopped by someone. All-might and the man kept clashing and sending shock wave after shock wave making the other fight very dangerous. That when something unexpected happened, out of nowhere, an ice construct shot as Midoriya, Kirishima, and Iida came flying through the battle field.

"GRAB MY HAND!" Shouted Kirishima and seeing an opportunity, Bakugo quickly grabbed Shino by the collar and with the other hand released the biggest explosion he had. Sending the two of them flying towards the others.

"Let go of me right now!" Shouted Shino as he struggled in Bakugo's hold.

"Stay still you idiot, you'll make both fall!" Bakugo shouted back.

"I have to know where they are, let me go, Shigaraki hasn't answered yet!" Shino shouted but it was too late they already were pretty far away at that point and have finally met with Midoriya and the others. Shino went limp until they reach the ground and after that he didn't say a word as the all walked to meet with Todoroki and Yaoyorozu in the town square where there was a live feed for the fight between All-Might and the man who identified himself as All For One.

When Shino first raised his head at the screen, his eyes widened in horror, All-Might was now in his weakened form which Shino remembered seeing when they went to check on Midoriya after his match with Todoroki but never could've imagined him to be the powerful All-Might. However, that wasn't what Shino was focusing on at the moment, what he saw was the destruction and death that surrounded the fight, people were dead or dying and no one could a thing about it, not with the two titans clashing there. And it was all his fault, this was happening because off him and he knew it, he lowered his head again and tried hard to hold the tears. All-Might managed to squeeze a win by giving it everything he had into a final United States of Smash that shook the earth and move the sky, but at what cost. It was clear that the number one hero was unable to fight anymore and what they were witnessing was the end of All-Might's era.

After that the group of students headed to the police station where their statements would be taken. But Shino refused to talk, several police officers and detectives tried but failed to get a word out of him.

"Bring Detective Hamura." Was the first thing he said after half an hour of silence. The police officers called upon the detective and lucky for them, he was already on his way without even being called.

When detective Hamura arrived, he was guided to the room where Shino was at, the second he opened the door, Shino talked.

"You lied to me." Hamuro was taken aback by the word.

"What?"

"YOU FUCKING LIED TO ME!" Shino exploded in the old man's face drawing attention from the officers around the station who were about to intervene but he signaled for them to stop and closed the door behind him.

"YOU TOLD ME APOTHEOSIS WAS DEAD" Hamura's blood ran cold at hearing that name again from the boy's mouth.

"AND LIKE I FOOL I BELIEVED YOU, I WANTED TO, I NEEDED TO, TO BELIEVE THAT IT WAS ALL OVER AND THAT I COULD GET A CHANCE IN LIFE. WHAT WERE THE LAST FIVE YEARS FOR? JUST BUILDING A SAND CASTLE TO HAVE IT DESTROYED OVER ME? PEOPLE DIED, PEOPLE LOST THEIR HOMES AND EVERYTHING DEAR TO THEM, MY FRIENDS COULD'VE DIED AND MANY OF THEM WERE HURT, AND ALL THAT BECAUSE APOTHEOSIS WANTED ME. IT WAS ALL MY FAULT JUST LIKE TEN YEARS AGO, IT WAS ALL MY FAULT." Hamura knew what was happening, Shino was breaking down in front of him and his heart broke with it. He quickly jumped out of his chair and enveloped Shino in a tight hug.

Shino felt the familiar warmth and all the dams broke down, he fell to his knee and started crying uncontrollably as Hamura hugged him even harder. All of Shino's guilt, his fears, his hopes, his dreams, they all came down along with his tears and Hamura was thankful the room they were in was soundproof or else the whole world would've heard Shino's wails of anguish.

On that day, everyone lost something, the heroes lost their sample of Piece and the strongest hero, and the villains lost their sample of destruction and the strongest villain. Some lost their loved ones, and some lost their homes and positions, and some lost both. And some….some lost the will to live.

**Thank you for reading.**


	20. Chapter 20

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**AN: Starting from this chapter and onwards, only Shino's side of things will be told, so anything not written, is the same as the original anime and manga.**

**Chapter 20**

"Hey brat! We have a new assignment for you!"

"….."

"Oh don't give me that look, you get to meet other people."

"W-What?"

"W-What h-happened to her?"

"That's none of your business, now do your magic."

"W-What? You d-don't mean…"

"Yep, now do it!"

"NO! That's murder! I won't do it, I don't care if you kill me, but I'll never kill!"

"If you don't the word murder that much don't call it that, let's call it recycling, not like it matters what you think, you're gonna do it whether you like it or not. Slimy get over here, I soften him for ya and you do the rest."

"Roger that!"

"NO stay away! Please don't make me do it! PLEASE!"

Shino slowly opened his eyes, he felt tired and empty, traces of tears were still clearly visible on the sides of his face and his eyes were red from how much they were strained, but at the same time, looked lifeless and dull like all light was stolen from them, which wasn't that far from the truth.

It's been a week since the camp incident, as expected the number of casualties and injured ranged in the hundreds, and a few days after his biggest fight ever, All-Might announced his official retirement. Nobody was surprised, especially after seeing the hero's weakened form, but they cried nonetheless, this was their pillar of hope, the person whose presence alone deterred villains, and now with him gone, crime rates were already on the rise and the heroes struggled to keep up. And it all his fault, because of his existence the league of villains were able to find the camp and attack it. Because of his weakness, he could stop them from taking him and Bakugo. Many of his friends and classmates were injured and some could've died. This weighed heavily on Shino's soul, this guilt and shame weren't new feelings for him but this time it was doubled, he joined U.A. and aimed to become a hero so he could get a chance to redeem himself and right his faults, only to repeat them once again.

U.A. received more backlash for their failure to protect its students and allowing two to be captured by the villains. In response, principal Nezu decided to turn U.A. into a boarding school and that's way Shino's room was currently empty, with the only things there being him and a few boxes that contained his clothes, wood carving equipment, his personal figures, and his books. Everything else was already transported to his future room. It really spoke of U.A.'s power to build the dorms and have them be ready in less than a week.

Today was the day students were supposed to move out of their homes and into the dorms, and while Shino woke up very early as usual, he couldn't find the energy or will to get out of the futon he was sleeping in, it all felt useless and meaningless to him, but he had to get up, because now he had a new goal, to crush Apotheosis and make them pay for the harm they caused his friends and countless innocent people, after that, he didn't know what he'll do, but one thing's for sure, his days in U.A. were coming to an end. He could still remember the meeting they had to discuss the camp incident.

**Flashback:**

Detective Naomasa had just finished reading the report concerning what the police found in the warehouse All For One was in and in the bar the league were using as a hideout. It wasn't much considering the warehouse was completely leveled in the fight between All-Might and the villain and the bar was just a front for the league to hide in so it didn't have much in terms of information. Worst of all, All For One had managed to open an escape route for the league members allowing them to slip from the heroes grasp and their location was now unknown.

Then came the worst part, for Shino, when the detective read the report of his incident five years ago while he and detective Hamura were present, Naomasa said it's because the reports were old and might be missing some detailed and he wanted them to confirm anything, and now every hero in U.A. knew what Shino went through and what he was force to do. Needless to say, they were angry and upset, and it was evident on their grim expressions, they all knew to some degree about what kind organization Apotheosis was, especially Aizawa, since he was an underground hero, he heard and saw many of Apotheosis's work, and just thinking that one of his students had to go through that was infuriating for the usually stoic and logical hero.

"We're already working on tracing any of Apotheosis's operations but with now distinctive features other than having a mutant type quirk, we can't do much. From what we know the leader of the division responsible for the incident five years ago and the camp incident goes by Volturnus and while we have no picture of him, we know that his quirk gives him the appearance of an albino crocodile man but we don't know whether he has other abilities or not, his right hand man, Minotaur, has a quirk that gives him an appearance befitting his name along with the ability to breath out a thick white gas from his mouth and nose, anyone who breathes this gas will be forced into a hypnotic state where they would see their worst fears, although the hallucination can't harm you physically, prolonged exposure can result in mental damage like constant nightmares and difficulty distinguishing reality from hallucination. However he needs to keep breathing out the gas constantly for it to have keep it effect." The attendant heroes all gulped at the idea of seeing their worst fears brought to life, and some had pretty clear ideas for what those fears would be.

"The same could be said his left hand man or in this case woman, Medusa, with the lower body of a snake and small snakes acting as her hair. While she can't turn people to stone by just looking at them, the poison she and her snakes secrete is very potent and can seep through skin or a wound which would cause complete paralysis before killing the victim." Hearing those names made Shino couldn't help but clinch his fists so hard they whited out and grit his teeth until they almost bled, remembering what he and others went through at their hands made him furious.

Naomasa turned to Shino, "Shino, you said there was another named member that wasn't mentioned in the reports?"

"Yes, they called him Slimy but I don't know whether that was his name or just a nickname. His quirk turned his entire body to a slime like substance but he retained a humanoid figure, although he had a core in the shape of round red crystal which represented his actual body, so hitting the slime doesn't hurt him and he can get inside anything larger that his core. The slime itself has healing capabilities and he could shape it however he likes." The heroes and detectives listened closely and thinking of what someone like that would do in an organization like Apotheosis.

But they didn't have to think for long, "….Also, Slimy can insert his slime inside someone's body to gain limited control over it while keeping the subject alive." You could see the shiver crawling on the heroes' backs, All-Might sunken eyes somehow sunk even deeper, Aizawa leaned on the table and his head buried a little inn his scarf, Midnight covered her mouth with her hand, Present Mic looked away while Snipe lower his hat to cover his face even more, Nezu's smile dropped and both Hound Dog and Vlad King growled in anger and Naomasa took notes to stop any ideas from coming to his mind. "But the subject can still resist the control, so usually they have to be weakened or close to unconsciousness for Slimy to have full control." Shino added.

"The hierarchy structure of each division of Apotheosis is determined by the leader of said division, so we don't know if they have any other high ranking individuals, also these information are five year old and could all be outdated." The detective said to return everyone to the topic at hand.

"So what you're saying is that all we have on these guys are rumors and five-year old information that may or may not be still true? That's just like saying we have nothing." Present Mic was the first to talk.

"While the information is old, it's highly unlikely that it changed much, since it was confirmed that Apotheosis's reason for assisting the league of villains is to get their hands on Shino once again, that would mean at least part of the division hasn't changed." Naomasa wasn't a man who sugar-coated the truth, and Shino liked that about him. Unlike the heroes, he and Aizawa didn't try to tell him it wasn't his fault, they at least understood that it's not what he wanted or needed to hear right now. It was they special kind of caring that Shino appreciated.

"Couldn't it have been another division that assisted the league?" Snipe suggested.

"That's unlikely, according to our informants in the underground society, the divisions of Apotheosis each have territories and specialization, and no division is allowed to interfere in the others' territory under any circumstances. Think of it like multiple rivers feeding the same sea, although they share a common end, none of the rivers affect the others. We do know that this is Volturnus's territory and that his division specializes in making weapons and support items that compliment and sometimes replace quirks." Naomasa explained.

"At any rate, investigation is still going and you'll be informed with any new information we find and will probably work with you on any plan to attack or apprehend them." With that the meeting was finished and Shino was the first to step outside as he sprinted to get away before anyone could talk to him. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough.

"Shino." Came a calm voice behind the boy and he stopped and turned around to find Aizawa standing behind him.

"Yes Mr. Aizawa?" Shino said dryly and he knew Aizawa could reed between the lines and figure out that he didn't want to talk to anyone right now.

Aizawa sighed, he could see the dull look in Shino's eyes that replaced his usual cheerful demeanor, "You said you wanted to be a hero that would turn the worst situation to a golden opportunity, didn't you?"

Shino was a bit surprised that Aizawa was even listening that the time but that changes nothing of how Shino feels and what he resigned himself to do. "That was when I thought I could be a hero, but that was in the past. But I'm no hero, never was, never will be."

Aizawa's eyes widened a bit in surprise, "So what? You'll quit just like that, one loss and that's it? Instead of trying to better yourself, you'll run away?" Aizawa asked appalled that one of his best students would say such words.

"You misunderstand Mr. Aizawa, I'm not quitting this fight, what I'm saying is that this my last fight, after I finish it, for better or for worse, I will walk away." With that Shino left before Aizawa could even argue anymore.

**End of flashback**

Finally finding enough drive to get out of the futon, Shino went to the bathroom to get ready to head out to his new living space. After taking a quick shower he got out and noticed a new notification on his phone. Picking the device to see who was from, it was from Itsuka.

Throughout the week, she tried to meet up with him, obviously concerned for him, but he kept giving excuses like still recovering from the incident or his family wanting him to spend time with them or just being very busy while sticking to just texting. He couldn't meet her, his shame and guilt wouldn't allow him, he had promised himself and her father to protect her and help her no matter what, but in the end, it was him that hurt her the most. The fact of Apotheosis's involvement in the latest incident was kept away from the public so nobody knew of his past aside from the heroes in that meeting. He knew meeting her was inevitable but wanted to delay it as far back as possible.

He quickly replied to her message then went to change his clothes then with a little gold, he lifted the boxes containing the last of his belongings. He walked out the door before moving the boxes to follow him. When he went down the stairs, he was surprised to find all his siblings, Mother, Maria, and Detective Hamura waiting for him by the door. It was so early in the morning for most of them to be awake.

"What are all of you doing being awake at this hour?"

"We knew you'd try to leave early, and decided to see you off." Mother answered.

The children all ran to their big brother's side with tear-stained eyes. "Big bro don't forget to come visit us all the time!" the children demanded in unison.

Shino couldn't show his beloved siblings how miserable he was, they were all he cared for and he wouldn't want to cause them any discomfort. Unfortunately, the fact that Apotheosis knows about him now means returning to the orphanage is out of the question and this might be the last time he see any of them, and so he gave them the best smile he could and got down to their level before hugging them all, "Of course! In return, you have to promise me to behave like I taught you and never give trouble Mother and Maria, and to never forget you studies, understand?" Shino was grateful the children couldn't see his face right now and his ugly attempt to hold his tears. The children all cried as they parted from their big brother.

He then turned to Maria, "Sorry Maria, it looks like you'll have to take care cooking too from now on." The young woman hugged him tightly as she too lost control of her tears. For Shino, she was like a big sister who cared for him since he came to the orphanage and for that he was grateful.

Next was Mother and before Shino could say anything he was enveloped in a hug only a mother could give, "Shino my boy, know that what you're planning to do is dangerous, please take care of yourself my boy, surely you don't want to cause this old lady any pain then she already felt seeing you like this. I just want you to know that whatever you think of yourself, I'm proud of the man you've become." She then parted from him, and that's when Shino saw something he never thought he would ever see, Mother was crying ever so slightly, but crying nonetheless. He had never in the years he knew her for seen her cry and it broke his heart that this was how he would leave her, but it couldn't be helped.

Last was detective Hamura who was standing a bit behind everyone else and looked to be embarrassed until Shino stood in front of him. "Shino, I….." the man started but was interrupted when Shino placed his hands on his shoulders, "I know detective Hamura, and I'm sorry for lashing out at you before, I understand you hide it for my sake. You have always took care of me when you didn't have to, I could have been just another solved case and that's it, but you went out of your way to help me recover and were the closest I had to a father after my father died, and for that I'm grateful from the bottom of my heart." The emotional man was once again drowning in his tears after hearing that and Shino embraced in him in a hug, and soon Mother, Maria, and the children also joined for a tearful group hug between a family none of its members were bound by blood but were just as close-net as any other family if not more.

After the hug was broken, Shino leaned closer to Detective Hamura's ear and whispered, "Don't forget our plans." The man nodded slightly as to not alarm the others.

"Don't worry, you can count on me, but are sure of this?" Detective Hamura asked in a whisper.

"Yes, it's the only way, Mother seems to have an idea of what I'm planning so it saves me a lot of trouble."

"She was always a perceptive woman." The detective said while looking away and sweat-dropped. Shino could help but chuckle and agree.

After saying his goodbyes to everyone, Shino took his boxes and headed out the door and started walking away but stopped and turned around to have a final look at what was his home for the best five years of his life before continuing to walk away. However, as he got further and further away, he remembered the reality of his situation and what he resigned himself to do, and the life and light that were in his eyes while he was surrounded by his family slowly faded as being sucked out of him, until he returned to the same dull and lifeless way he was when he woke up this morning.

Arriving at the new dorms, Shino found Aizawa standing at the entrance. "As I thought, you'd come this early. What a pain." Aizawa 'greeted' and noticed Shino's dull expression as opposed to the anger he had that last time they met.

"Didn't realize I was that easy to predict, don't you have a nap to return to?" Shino replied with his own 'greeting' still using that dry tone from before.

"Well, since people like you exist, it forces me to be up early and cause my eyes to burn, but don't worry after I tell you the rules, I will have a nice nap until everyone else comes."

"I don't learn the rules, as you know, my stay here will be…limited." Shino said and tried to get past Aizawa but the hero put his arm in front of him stopping him from advancing. Shino looked at his teacher irritated.

Aizawa didn't meet Shino's gaze and started talking as if nothing happened, Shino sighed and listened to the teacher as he recited the rules every student in the dorms will have to abide by, from curfew to how food will be supplied to the layout of the dorms and most importantly when the students would be allowed to leave the dorms and under what circumstances.

"Is that all?" Shino asked pretty bored from the long explanation and wanting to get to his room already.

"Yes, that would be all, your room is the last one on the upper floor, you'll find all your belongings there but it's up to you to rearrange them." Aizawa moved out of the way to allow Shino and his boxes to pass.

"Of course." Shino walked past Aizawa and was heading to the dorms but Aizawa had one more thing to say to him.

"You know, blaming you for what happened is like someone getting shot and blaming the gun instead of the person that shot him."

"That's why people push for the banning of guns, so no one would have the chance to use them." Shino answered as he walked without looking as Aizawa who didn't pursue the conversation any further.

Entering his room, Shino saw that it was almost as big as Itsuka's which reminded him of how small his room was, boxes were everywhere and all organized neatly. Shino got on with his work to organize all of his belongings. He might not stay here for long but he still had things to finish before leaving and for that, he needed the things in the boxes.

While working, Shino could hear the telltale sign that his classmates had arrived, and he wasn't particularly excited by that, but he kept these thoughts in the back of his head by focusing on organizing his stuff. After finally putting everything in its place, Shino took a step back and looked at the room which now became an exact replica of his room. However, it didn't feel the same, it felt like exactly what it was, a replica, an imitation that paled in comparison to the original. Shino was more than aware that his room was that unique or special anyway, not that he wanted it to, but the sense of safeness and comfort his room brought him was all he needed. That couldn't be said for the room he was in right now.

Shino quickly got to work to push these thoughts away, there was no time to drown in misery, that comes later, he still had many orders for figures he needed to complete since school hasn't started yet and he won't have much free time then because of training. Time passed and Shino was so engrossed in his work that he didn't notice that night has fallen until his alarm sounded.

Feeling a bit tired, he decided to make a cup of coffee to energize himself, unfortunately that meant going to the kitchen located in the ground floor since he regretfully didn't have a coffee machine in his room. Shino slowly opened his door peeking out from the small crack to make sure no one was around, when he confirmed the coast was clear, he fully opened the door and walked to the elevator making sure not to make any sound. While in the elevator, Shino was mentally preparing himself to avoid any conversation and get his coffee then return as fast as possible. Shockingly, Shino found the ground floor empty, there were signs that someone was here so his classmates did arrive, but he couldn't find a single one of them.

"Could they have been so tired after organizing their rooms that they went straight to sleep?" Shino wondered as he made his cup of coffee as fast as possible in case someone came for a glass of water or something.

"But it's too early for them to sleep even if they're tired, and they're not allowed out of the school vicinity unless on weekends and with a permission so they can't be out." Shino kept thinking as he entered the elevator, in his pondering, he didn't notice that the elevator wasn't at the ground floor waiting for him, indicating that someone used it while he was making coffee.

'_But that's a good thing now I can return to my room without any unnecessary interactions._' That thought crossed Shino's mind as he exited the elevator and turned to his room's direction, only to find nearly his entire class standing in front of his room's door and all of them had worried faces as if debating the consequences of what they're about to do.

'_You just had to jinx it didn't you._' Shino berated himself. '_There is no way out of this. Let's just get it over with then._' With a sigh, Shino approached the group.

"Midoriya knock again, maybe he didn't hear the first time." Kirishima encouraged the boy.

"I don't know, he might be sleeping or busy doing something." Midoriya voiced his concerns.

"Mr. Aizawa said that he came before us, he must've already finished organizing his stuff, and I doubt that guy is asleep now." Sero argued.

"Come on guys, Midoriya's right, we don't know what Shino's doing and we might be interrupting him. Besides, he might not even want to join this room contest." Jiro argued against it.

"Are you kidding me? Even Todoroki joined, no offence by the way." Kaminari argued back then.

"What are you people arguing about in front of my room?" The class heard Shino's voice but from the wrong side of the door and turned around to find Shino looking pretty irritated.

"AHHHHHHH!" Most of the class screamed as they fell to the ground in shock, the ones that didn't fall just took two steps back and their expressions of shock were more subtle.

"How did you get out without us noticing!?" asked a still shocked Kaminari.

"I wasn't inside to begin with." Shino stated and his irritation was rising since no one looked like they're gonna answer his question, so he waited until they stood up again to ask again. "Again, what are you doing in front of my room?"

Ashido released a sigh and composed herself before she started to explain, "We were having a contest to-"

"Not interested, now out of my way." Shino interrupted her and began pushing through the group reaching his door and entering the room and slamming the door shut behind him. It all happened so fast and the reaction was so unexpected that they were stood there stunned for a good minute before Kirishima broke the silence.

"What was that?" he asked his fellow classmates confused, but they all either shrugged or looked at each other indicating that they were as confused as he was.

"I told it was a bad idea, he might still be affected by the Kamino incident, you saw how Bakugo behaved, the same would apply to Shino too." Jiro scolded Kirishima and Kaminari.

"I agree with Jiro, maybe it's best if we give him time and surely he will return to normal in due time." Iida agreed with Jiro. The ones that were excited to see Shino's room released a sigh of defeat and everyone walked away from the closed door, but one lingered a bit, Midoriya kept staring at the door with concern written all over his face.

"What's wrong Deku?" Midoriya turned to find Uraraka standing in front of him.

Being the kind of boy that he is, he was surprised and flustered to find the girl suddenly in front of him and the first words that came out of his mouth were all stuttering, "O-Oh! N-Nothing i-it's just…" remembering why he was standing there calmed him down but also saddened him and he turned back to the door to his right. "Shino looked so sad just now, like something was weighing heavily on his heart."

Uraraka turned with him with her own expression of concern, "I don't know what happened at Kamino but I'm sure Shino will be alright, he's strong, both physically and mentally." She said with a small smile.

"I guess you're right, he's always been an optimist." Midoriya's concern was lift a bit but not completely. The two then walked away to join their friends.

What they didn't know was that Shino was still standing just behind that door and could hear everything they said. When he was sure everyone was gone, he rest his back on the door and sled down to sit on the ground. Shino didn't fear much, he didn't fear death, he didn't fear pain, he didn't fear defeat, but if there was one thing that he feared, it would be, loneliness, that sense of isolation was soul-crushing for him and it brought many memories he wished were left buried. He soon got up and returned to his work in complete silence.

The next day class was in session but instead of going to the classroom, Aizawa led them to a new building that was built along with the dorms. The inside of the building was completely empty. Soon after the class arrived, Cementoss, Midnight, and Ectoplasm also came. Unlike always, Shino was standing in the back of the crowd resting his back to the wall and crossing his arms, the others would shoot a worried glances at him from time to time but nobody would approach him wanting to give him the time to loosen up on his own. The only person to stare for longer than others was Bakugo.

"Today you'll start training on one of the important things for any hero to distinguish themselves from others, special moves." This caught everyone's attention as they wondered what their teacher meant exactly by that.

"Like your hero name, the special move that you create will have a big influence on your popularity, but most importantly it will be your trump card in your fights against powerful villains, so you must think carefully about it and make a move that would fit your style." Midnight picked up from where Aizawa left.

"It doesn't have to be anything overly complicated and could be anything, from a finisher move to a boost to your ability, a special move is basically something that would give you the advantage in a fight." Cementoss added as he stepped forward and placed his hands on the ground, by controlling the cement, he created 21 pillars of varying lengths.

Ectoplasm then created clones with each one standing atop one of the pillars, "Each one of you will choose a pillar and that will be your training ground, since a special move is something unique for every hero. You can also relay on support items if you have an idea for a special move but your quirk isn't enough to perform it." This reminded Shino of something he was planning to do and now was the perfect time for it.

"Your quirk training in the summer camp was in preparation to this but since that was cut short, we'll have to make do with what you have learned." Aizawa finished the lecture and with that each student chose their pillar and started training, either coming with random ideas and seeing what sticks or sitting down and thinking hard about what they wanted their special move to be before trying out the ideas that they liked. Shino chose the pillar furthest in the back, he had ideas and wanted to perfect them as fast as possible since he didn't know when his final fight will be.

After an hour or so, Vlad King arrived at the building and along with him were the students of class 1-B, "Aizawa! Your class' time is up, now it my class' turn." He announced.

Quickly class 1-A got down from the pillars and fumbled through the exit passing by class 1-B, the two classes greeted each other and check on the other's recovery from the incident they shared not too long ago that left many of them unconscious for several days. That when Itsuka noticed Shino trying not to stand out, and he would've succeeded if she didn't call him.

"Shino how are you doing?" She asked with the most worried expression on her face. Shino couldn't look her in the eye, she was so concerned for him when it was all his fault.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it." Shino turned to walk away but Itsuka grabbed his hand stopping him, by this point class 1-A left the building while class 1-B took their place on the pillars, making sure nobody was around, Itsuka spoke freely now.

"What's bothering you Shino?" The question struck the boy in the heart like being stabbed with a sharp and razor knife.

"Nothing Itsuka, I'm just tired from training and I still have things to do so I'll be on my way then." Shino pulled away his hand from her grasp and walked away, Itsuka didn't believe him one bit, even without seeing his face she knew he was lying to her, but when she was about to stop him again, Vlad King called out to her telling that they have limited time so she shouldn't waste it. She kept staring at where Shino was standing for a moment before walking away.

Shino headed to the support class workshop where they were instructed to go to find Power Loader for any support item they needed, but Shino wasn't looking for Power Loader, he was looking for the one person that would probably stay in the workshop as much as him, Mei Hatsume.

Arriving at the workshop, he found that the door was missing and there clear burn marks on the sides of the hole where the door should've been, but he didn't have time to investigate. He walked inside and looked around for anyone.

"OH! You're that one million guy! Did you come for support items too?!" Hatsume's voice come from behind a pile of junk and broken parts and the owner soon jump in front of him with excitement bubbling inside her, seeing her like this brought good memories to Shino of the time he had to team up with this mechanic psycho and Itsuka in the sports festival.

Shino quickly snapped himself out and returned his focus on the pink-haired girl in front of him.

"Yes I came to request a support item, but I want you to keep this one confidential, it's not for me and I don't want anyone know about it until it's finished." Hatsume raised an eyebrow curious as to what could this item be to be kept a secret.

"Hiding secrets are we?" She asked teasingly.

"Not really, just a surprise for someone."

"Let me guess, that orange-haired girl right?"

"It's not important who's it for, will you make or not?" Shino asked getting impatient.

"Making something without Power Loader's permission is something a regularly do so no problem just tell me what you want and I'll make it, when it's finished, I will contact you."

"Good to know, now as or what item I want…"

After discussing the details with Hatsume, Shino left the headed for the place where he would spend most of his time in, the training area. Since he could no longer train under Master Ichigo, he couldn't afford to waste time learning new moves, so he decided to perfect what he already knew along with extensive physical training to increase his strength and stamina. In his mind, this was that mattered now, making sure he was as prepared for when the time comes as he could.

**In one of Apotheosis's main branches:**

Minotaur entered a big room that looked like a piece of the garden of eve, flowers and greenery were everywhere, small rivers were going through, and the walls were pure white with golden markings and symbols giving the place a heavenly aura. In the middle of such scenery, stood a tall throne with Volturnus sitting atop it like king in a mansion. Minotaur knelt on one knee and placed his right hand on the ground.

"Boss, that useless Shigaraki brat failed to bring the kid, should we take it into our own hands?" The monstrous subordinate asked.

"No, we don't want to draw the police and heroes attention, there should be no clue of our involvement, and since that idiot didn't get caught, there is no danger and as such, we can take our time carefully planning the next attempt." Volturnus spoke in a calm and dignified tone.

"As you command boss." Minotaur stood up and walked out of the room.

Volturnus intertwined his finger as he thought of what his next move should be, "Shinohara, my goose that lay golden eggs. Soon you'll be in grasps again, and this time, I will not allow you to escape ever again."

**Thank you for reading.**


	21. Chapter 21

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 21**

The days went by and much to class 1-A's and Itsuka's dismay and concern, Shino state didn't get any better, in fact, it could be said that it got even worse. His schedule was waking up before the sun even shined on the world, start his "morning" training routine and a quick jog around the school since he could get out, then returning to the dorms, cooking breakfast for himself and washing the dishes he used then returning to his room in silence where would stay until it was time to go to school. The only reason they even knew he was doing that was because some them, especially the academically-challenged ones, would either wake up too early and can't go back to sleep or just do an all-nighter and would see him exiting and entering the dorms, but he never acknowledged their presence and whenever someone tried to talk to him, he would tell them that he's busy or not interested or straight up ignore them.

And that was just the beginning of the day, the rest wasn't any better. While everyone were busy with their training to invent their special moves, they still had breaks where they would engage in small talks or think together of new special moves they could try, but not Shino, he rarely took any breaks and when he did, he would set by himself in one of the far corners of the building away from everyone. Even after training would end, instead of returning to the dorms, he would head for the gym or training area to practice martial arts or do exercises. Itsuka had offered multiple times to train with him but he would always find an excuse to slip out of it and it was getting really frustrating for her. After returning to the dorms, he would isolate himself in his room only going out to make something to eat then returning without a word. All that was concern to the people around him, but what really concerned them was that ever since that dreadful incident, Shino never smiled, not even once did the scowl on his face go away.

What they didn't know was that Shino tried to hide that scowl multiple times, but every time he tried, the shame and guilt he felt would remind him that he was no hero and he didn't deserve being among these people. And Shino was always honest and transparent about his feelings, he might be able to lie and say he's fine, but he could fake his feelings or hide them even if he tried, it was just not the kind of person that he was.

Shino was in his room once again finishing the last figure he had to work on, he just needed to put the finishing touches, when a knock on the door broke his concentration. He didn't respond and just waited hoping whoever was on the other end would just give up and go, but he had no such luck. The knocking didn't stop and Shino was getting to the end of his patience, just when was about to get up determined to punch whoever was annoying him this much, which in his mind couldn't have been someone other than Mineta or Kaminari, when he heard Itsuka's voice.

"Shino! I know you're in here, we need to talk." the voice said.

'_God damn it! What's Itsuka doing here?_' Shino cursed his rotten luck, even if he was stupid enough to still go through with his original plan, she would probably gonna black it then deliver divine retribution of him. On top of that, she was very persistent and won't stop until he gave her a response, and he had a feeling that "I'm busy." Won't cut it anymore. Truly, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Begrudgingly, he opened the door but just enough to see Itsuka while being able to block her vision of her room, to his surprise, she wasn't alone, the rest of his class were there as well.

"What do you want at this hour?" Shino asked trying to remind them that it was night right now and curfew was approaching, but they didn't seem to mind.

"We need to talk, you've been acting strangely for a while and I won't to know why." Itsuka demanded in the same tone she used to reprimand her class when they used to mess with class 1-A.

"Can't this wait until the morning? I'm busy right now."

"No it can't wait, now open this door." Itsuka once again demanded and Shino once again cursed his inability to hide his feelings which would've spared him from this situation.

"Do I get a choice in this?" he asked just to make sure.

"I think we both know the answer to that." She reaffirmed his fears. With a sigh, Shino opened the door and then sat on his desk chair as his room was invaded by his classmates and Itsuka.

"Wow! What's all of this?!" Shouted Ashido as she examined one of Shino's figures. That one was of a Chinese style dragon with green scales, red eyes and antler-like horns.

"I didn't know you liked collecting figures Shino." Midoriya said as he admired an All-Might figure in his silver age costume. The others too began looking at the different figures and admiring the craftsmanship all the while Itsuka was holding a chuckle knowing that Shino made those. Shino on the other hand, wasn't enjoying this at all.

"I don't collect them, now put them back where they belong." Shino ordered.

"Really! Then why do you have so many of them? Just admit it, it's nothing to be ashamed of, you have nothing on Midoriya's collection anyways." Kaminari said looking at some of the figures the others were holding.

"Because I make them." Shino was now angry and irritated. Everyone stopped admiring the figures and just stared at Shino dumbfounded.

"You serious?" Kaminari asked.

"Yes, put them back and can we please return to why you people barged into my room like it a freaking public park!" at that point everyone realized they were being a bit inconsiderate, especially since they came here to check on Shino and not his room. Quickly they all returned the figures to the shelves they were on and either sat on the ground kept standing or sat on the bed. The ones that sat on the bed could feel how small it was but decided to not bring it up.

Seeing everyone finally sitting or standing in on place, Shino sighed, "Now what do you want from me?"

Itsuka took the lead, "Ever since the camp incident, you've been acting strange, and it's worrying to say the least. So we came to ask if you were okay, did something happen with the villains to make you act like this. Did they say or do something to you? Please you can tell, we're your friends aren't we?" Her questioning turned to pleading for Shino to tell them.

Although it broke Shino's heart to pieces and felt like his chest was hit with a sludge hammer, he couldn't tell them the truth, he couldn't tell them that it was all his fault, both because it would ruin his plans and because of the guilt he felt and what would they think of him when they find out, there is no way they would even look him in the eye if they knew what he did.

"You're reading too much into it Itsuka, nothing happened, I'm just too busy with training and work, and it leaves me a bit exhausted that's all" he lied and hoped they would buy it, but Itsuka knew him a bit too well.

"Then why aren't you smiling like you always do?" Itsuka asked and Shino bit his lips to stop himself from answering that.

He composed himself and then opened his mouth to answer, "What you think I'm a clown or Sero with a smile plastered on my face 24/7?"

"Dude! Not cool, what did I do?" Sero protested but everyone chuckle at his expense.

"No I don't think you're a clown but I know you and you always had a smile, even when things were tough, and even when you were exhausted and tired after training, you had a smile of satisfaction. But now, you don't smile at all. So I'll ask again, are you okay?" Itsuka words struck Shino pretty hard, each one like a dagger striking his heart, reminding him of what was and what he lost or would eventually lose.

"As I said, I'm fine. If any of you truly knew me like you claim, then you wouldn't be here right now asking these questions." Itsuka heart ached at hearing Shino say that she didn't know him well.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Itsuka asked.

Shino turned away from them and did what he considered to be the hardest thing to do for him, "It mean what it means, if you ask me, all of you should focus on your training for the upcoming provisional license exam if you really want to be heroes, instead of wasting my time with useless questions." Now Itsuka was really hurt, to call her worrying over him useless just after saying that she didn't know him well broke her heart, maybe he was right, the Shino she knew wouldn't such a thing, even if he truly felt that way he would be considerate, but this Shino was different, and with no replay she left the room, and everyone soon followed only giving Shino worried and confused looks as they tried to decipher the mystery of his sudden change in character.

After everyone left Shino got up from his seat before closing the door and locking it, he went to the shelf where the cat figure laid and grabbed it then sat on the bed, "It's better this way, it's better this way, it's better this way, it's better this way, it's better this way,…" He kept saying it repeatedly trying to convince himself that what he did just now was necessary as he held the figure close to his broken heart and tears began gathering at the edges of his eyes before finally falling down his face, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." With that he cried himself to sleep once again.

After that, nobody approached Shino again, although they couldn't help but glance at him with worry from time to time but as soon as he would turn to meet their gaze, they would look away pretending like nothing happened. It didn't help that as Shino said, the provisional license exam was coming very soon and due to All-Might's retirement and the government wanting to fill the gap he left behind with numbers, first year student will now be participating as well, which meant that the students of U.A. had to work even harder on coming up and mastering their special moves.

Shino of course was included since his simple plan relied on getting his license and with the information from detective Hamura on the heroes investigating Apotheosis as well as what they reached so far, he could apply to one of them and with that be able to take down Apotheosis, for the time being anyway.

The weekends came around, the time to relax and rejuvenate your strength for the next week, but not for Shino. While he knew that not resting will only harm his body and halt his progress, but he kept break time to an absolute minimum. First, he got the permission he needed to leave the dorms from Aizawa, and although the teacher was skeptical, he couldn't deny a student the permission if they had a valid reason, which in Shino's case was delivering the figures he made. It wasn't a lie or a half-truth either, Shino still had to, and wanted to, provide for his siblings for as long as he could.

And so, Shino was on his way delivering each of the figure and receiving his payment. After delivering all the figures, now came the part he didn't mention to Aizawa when asking for the permission, he was going to meet up with detective Hamura, both to give him the money to deliver to Mother, and to discuss the progress of the investigation.

Meeting detective Hamura wasn't hard, Shino just had to make sure Aizawa wasn't secretly following him or something (he would totally do that). At the moment he was sitting next to the detective overlooking a park. Shino brought out the money which he had placed in an envelope and handed it to him.

"Please make sure to deliver it to Mother as fast as possible."

"Of course, consider it done."

"As for the other topic?"

"Yes, the investigation hasn't progressed that much, it's still hard to catch any member of Apotheosis and the ones we suspect keep denying any relation to them, however since we're slowly closing in on them, and soon they will make a mistake."

"And what about the heroes investigating?"

"Yes, since we want to exert the most pressure without alerting Apotheosis, we asked some of the big heroes in the area to investigate like Kamui Woods and Edge Shot since they also were involved in the Kamino incident, along with those two we have some smaller hero agencies scattered throughout what we think is Volturnus' territory. Of course while they know about the incident five years ago, they don't know it was you in that incident."

"Good, looks like if I want the best results, it's gonna be either Kamui Woods or Edge Shot." Shino said pinching his chin with a thoughtful expression.

"First, you need to get the provisional license before thinking about that." The detective reminded him not get ahead of himself.

"Don't worry, I will get it." Shino said before standing up to return to the dorms and continue his training. "Say hi to everyone for me, okay."

"The kids miss you so much, you know." Shino stopped walking but didn't turn to meet detective Hamura's eyes fearing that his emotions would once again betray him.

"We both know I can't come back." He talked in a low voice as he was fighting to keep the tears from falling.

"Is there really no other way to do this?" The old man questioned.

"No, there isn't. This is the only path left for me now." Shino said before starting to walk away again. "Take care Detective."

Shino returned to the dorms only to change into gym clothes and headed to continue his training. There was no time to waste after all.

Days went by and the day of the provisional license exam rolled around. The students of U.A. participating in the exam all got in the buses of their respective classes as every class was separated in different exam buildings to balance things for the smaller schools that didn't have many students participating.

Before riding the bus, Itsuka approached Shino one last time. "Good luck, Shino." She said sincerely.

"Good luck to you too Itsuka, I know you're gonna do great." Shino said and she could feel he was also sincere but that only made her sadder. If he was really sincere then why did he say those words back then? Why does he insist on hiding his problems from her? Does he not trust her to help? Or is there something more to this that she doesn't know? These questions kept her occupied her mind for the entirety of the bus ride to the exam site.

Class 1-A reach the building and got off the bus, seeing such a big stadium as well as all the students from other schools and academies makes some of them nervous as they begin to doubt themselves, Shino sees this and begins to extend his hand desperately wanting to help them calm down and reassure them, but he stops himself before anyone notices. '_You shouldn't talk to them, you'll only hurt them more. Like you always do._' he decided to walk away from the others and going to the side of the bus where nobody could see him. As soon as he made it there, he collapsed on the ground as his demons began eating away at him.

'_What do you think you're doing here? You're no hero! In fact, your existence alone killed more people than most villains, right?_' a deep and menacing voice sounded in Shino's head.

'_Stop it! Who the hell are you?!_' He tightly covered his ears with his hands in a useless attempt to keep the voice out, but deep down he knew, the voice was right.

'_Me? I am your truth that you tried to burry, I am who you really are who you're denying. Don't tell me that you think getting this stupid license will make you feel like a hero? HA! How laughable! You're just a fake, a villain disguised as a hero. You should be ashamed of yourself._'

'_Stop it!_'

'_I wonder how those friends that wanted so desperately to help would feel if they found the truth about you, or that girl you love so much, or even the children back at the orphanage. How disappointed and disgusted they would be?_'

'_Please stop it!_'

'_I'm sure your parent are looking down on you and regretting giving birth to you._'

'_STOP!_'

"Shino, are you alright?" Midoriya's voice brought Shino back to the real world and out of the internal struggle he was in as his head shot up to look at his friend standing at the end of the bus with worry all over his face.

"You're crying! Did something happen!?" Midoriya's words brought to Shino's attention the tears that he didn't know were falling down his face. But when Midoriya was about to get closer, Shino stood up quickly while wiping the tears and moved back away from Midoriya.

"I'm fine, what did you want?" Shino asked rather rudely as to deter Midoriya from coming any closer.

"Mr. Aizawa says it's time to change into our costumes and head inside." Midoriya signals behind him but when he turns back, Shino was already gone.

everyone had changed into their hero costumes and were standing in a big hall when a man who looked like he was just pulled out of his bed after a weak of all-nighters greeted them, the man introduced himself to the students as Mera of the hero public safety commission then started explaining the rules for the first exam they will undertake.

Every student will be given three targets that they will attach to any place on their bodies of their choosing, except the armpits and feet. They were also each given six balls, the exam will be a battle royal with the objective being to use the balls to hit the targets on the other participants. Whoever manages to lit the third up the third target on two other participants will advance to the second exam, and needless to say, whoever has all three of their targets hit, will be disqualified. The real shocker to the students was when Mera informed them that only the first 100 people to pass will advance to the second exam, which meant that stalling wasn't an option and everyone had to be on their toes at all times.

Shino looked around him at the different reaction of the soon-to-be his enemies to these news, some were plainly shocked, some were worried or even afraid, but some were excited, Shino classified them as the most dangerous opponents.

Right after Mera finished his explanation of the rules and the students were handed the balls and targets, the walls of the hall they were in started to fall revealing that they were inside the stadium all along and that the stadium has been modified to feature many types of terrain. Mera explained that this was made to give everyone a fair chance. All the schools separated leaving class 1-A in the middle.

"Everyone we should stick together for safety, I think that this will be a battle between schools." Midoriya rallied his classmates, but there were exceptions that didn't want to huddle with the rest of the class.

"As if I would stick around with you losers acting like a big target mark!" Bakugo yelled as he blasted away.

"Sorry guys but I think Bakugo is right, it would be dangerous to make a big group, take care." Kirishima said before running off in the same direction as Bakugo.

Midoriya didn't protest much since he expected this, what he didn't expect was Todoroki to also break off the group. "Sorry Midoriya, but it will be hard for me to use my quirk with guys around. It's better if I split away so I won't hinder the rest of you." Todoroki said as he walked away.

Shino summoned his hover board and was about to leave when Midoriya noticed and called out to him. "Shino not you too! We need to stick together, if you're on your own the others will surely overwhelm you with numbers." He pleaded for him to stay with the rest of the class for his own safety.

Shino turned around facing Midoriya and the others, his eyes were sharp and devoid of emption, "Midoriya, you seem to be under the impression that this is a school versus school fight, but you're wrong. This is a student versus student fight, meaning right now, all of you are my enemies." Shino's eyes turned to that of a monster looking at his prey as he shot a glance at the rest of his classmates that sent a shiver down their collective spines. "So it's best for you that I leave, and know that if we were to meet later on, I will show no mercy." And with that he went his separate way leaving class 1-A in stunned silence before they regained their composure and started moving together as planned.

Shino headed for the city area of the exam arena after making sure he was far enough from everybody and entered on the buildings. His heart was bounding so hard and his breathing was uneven, he clutched at his chest trying to steady its beats.

'_You think by pushing them away you can protect them? You know it's not enough, there is only one way to protect them. But you're too scared to do it._' The voice returned once again.

'_Shut up already._'

'_If you really were trying to push them, then why did you compliment that girl? Admit it, even after what you said to the detective, you're still hoping for a way out. Well forget it! That's the destiny of someone like you, to be all alone until your last day. The sooner you accept that, the sooner this pain in your heart will go away._'

Before Shino could reply, movement around him caught his attention. He glanced out of the window and could see multiple shadows moving about. "They're probably positioning themselves, I need to end this quickly." With that, Shino walked out of the building and into the street. "Just come out already! I know you're all here!" he shouted.

Figures started emerging from all around Shino, from the other buildings and the streets. It seemed he was right and somehow these people tracked him and planned on surrounding him and taking him down, Shino looked around him and counted about twenty people that he could see memorizing their positions, he guessed they were all from the same school and had the same idea as Midoriya but instead of defending, they decided to go on the attack.

"So you knew we were here! As expected of a U.A. student, but this is the end of the line for you!" Spoke one of the students who Shino assumed was the leader, or at least the one with the most confidence out of them.

As they all stared down Shino, the ground began to shake and everyone looked as a huge tornado appeared in the distance out of nowhere, as fast as the tornado appeared, it disappeared once again leaving everyone including Shino wondering what hell was that just now.

Their answer came in the form of an announcement saying that someone had already passed and advanced to the next exam while reminding them that now only ninety-nine seats were left.

"Looks like we have to pick up the pace guys, let finish this one and find more!" The leader shouted to his comrades and they all had a predatory glare as they returned their focus Shino, but he knew how to beat all of them.

"Now everyone, FIRE!" with the sign from the leader, everyone threw their balls at Shino with some even using their quirks to give their throw more power or secondary effect.

Shino knelt down to the ground touching it and as it was turning to gold, he raised a dome around him to block the attacks. The second the balls bounced off the dome, hook shaped projectiles shot out in all directions pinning most of the attackers if not all of them to the buildings or the ground by their costumes. Seconds after that, the dome parted away allowing Shino to approach two of the closest participants to him since he didn't want to waste time in fear of some of them freeing themselves or others coming to this location after seeing that tornado. Against their pleads, Shino hit their targets with one of his balls, disqualifying them and becoming the second person to advance to the second exam.

Shino headed to the waiting room as instructed and sat on one of the many empty seats to wait as the other participants fought for the remaining ninety eight seats.

'_If one of your attacks missed, there could've been some serious injuries._'

'_I wouldn't have done that if I thought I would miss._'

'_Oh really? Couldn't have been because you didn't care either way, they were in your way so you disposed of them, just like what threatened your so called friends._'

'_I never intended to do that, it was just to push them away, to protect them._'

'_Who are you kidding? I told you, pushing them away won't protect them. No, you're pushing them away because they're a burden to you. For years you've went out of your way to help others trying to redeem yourself for what you've done, but deep down you always knew that you're unredeemable, this last incident only reinforced that and now you don't see any reason to keep pretending like you care._'

'_No! I do care, while yes I desired redemption, I never pretended to care, everything I've done, I've done because I wanted to._'

As this was happening, all one hundred participants passed with class 1-A somehow managing to make it through. When Midoriya along with Uraraka, Sero, and Mineta were talking and celebrating, he looked around to see where all of his classmates were. That's when he noticed Shino sitting alone with a grim look on his face that was driving everyone around him away and the people that were brave enough to sit near him looked really uncomfortable and on edge. This was not the Shino that he knew, the one he knew was a welcoming and easy to talk to, someone who greeted people with a smile. Midoriya knew that no matter how many time he said he was fine, it was pretty obvious that there was something wrong with Shino. He was just about to approach him when Sero told Kaminari and Mineta about his fight with Camie, a student of Shiketsu High, and how she was naked during that fight. The two didn't waste any time in apprehending Midoriya and interrogating him. Due to that, Midoriya stopped his endeavor in favor of explaining himself to them, a decision he would come to regret later on.

Mera's voice comes through a speaker in the waiting room and he asks the hundred students to look at the screen placed in the room which was previously turned off. At that moment the voice inside Shino head was suddenly gone and he became aware of his surroundings once again.

The screen shows the site they were just conducting their exam in, and after all the students that failed the test are escorted out, the site suddenly crumbles and self-destructs creating a disaster site with wrecked building and falling rocks and holes filling the roads. Mera then informs them that the next and final test will rescue operations. They will be rescuing injured civilians scattered throughout the disaster site, but Mera warns the students that these civilians aren't normal and that they're all experts in rescue and will be judging them on their attempts using a point system and that the duration of the exam would be ten minutes.

While others might not have noticed it, Shino could tell that this part of the exam was a reenactment of the Kamino incident, a sudden force destroys an entire block instantly with many injured and many more dead under the rubble as heroes try their hardest to save as many people as possible, it was like watching a replay of the incident, which Shino did many times. This brought back memories of the day of that incident to Shino's mind and he quickly looked away from screen.

Not long after Mera finished his explanation, the door of the waiting room opened as a siren sounded out signaling the start of the second exam. All the participants rushed out and quickly scattered around looking for any civilians to rescue. Shino headed to what used to be the middle of the city but now looked like a warzone thinking that the most amount of civilians should be.

Right after he arrived, he heard a moan of pain coming from one of the wrecked buildings and following it, he found an old man with his lower half trapped under a falling ceiling, the image of the people trapped during the Kamino incident came to Shino's mind but he quickly shook it off and walked closer to the man to assess his situation.

"Please help me, I can't feel my legs." The man pleaded while carefully observing Shino's reaction.

"Don't worry sir, I'm here to help, do you know if there is there anyone else trapped in this building?" Shino inquired as he knelt next to the man.

"No, it was just me and my wife were the last to get out when the ceiling fell on me, I told her to just leave and go and have been trapped ever since." The man said as he shed a crocodile tear while glancing at Shino to see what will he do next.

"I'm sure she's safe and met with heroes already, now let's get out of here so you can meet with her." Shino touched the rubble and after it turned to gold, he made a small hole that was big enough of the man to crawl out of while not causing any more parts of the building to fall, then he made stretcher that slid under the old man and carried him out from under the rubble.

While Shino's rescue was flawless, the sharp glare and scowl that didn't leave his face didn't make the man feel any safer, something that he appropriately and silently deducted points from him on.

Next Shino heard the cries of children from what seemed to be the remnants of a small shopping center. Entering the building, Shino saw two children crying while kneeling next to pile of rubble, looking closer he could see a hand sticking out of the rubble. Even though he knew that it wasn't a real scenario, the images of the victims of the Kamino incident, the dead bodies being removed from the under the rubble, the families crying over their loved ones, the children being taken to be put foster care. Unlike the first time, these images came with a strong nausea that forced Shino to take a few steps back hitting the wall behind him and using it to stop himself from falling as he held his head in his hand trying to calm the storm that hit it.

Shortly, the nausea subsided and Shino could stand on his feet without support. He approached the still-crying kids who turned around and seeing his scowl did not help them relax one bit, in fact they may have cried even harder, it was all fake tears but tears nonetheless.

"Don't worry, I'm here to help, tell me what happened." Shino tried to sound as comforting as possible, but with his expression unchanged, it was hard to convince two children who didn't look to be older than seven.

Eventually, one of them gathered enough courage to talk to him, "Our mom is under the rubble, can you please save her?"

"Of course I will, but first let's get the two of you to safety so your mother won't be worried about you."

"No! We can't leave mom alone!" the two kid-looking-adults shouted as they huddled closer to the pile of rubble.

"Don't worry, I will save her but I can't do that when you're still in danger, I'm sure your mother would agree. I promise you that."

"You promise?" Shino could see their hold on the rubble loosen and their shoulder relax. This was the final stretch.

"Yes I will do my best to save your mother and return her to you. But now we have to move, is either of you injured?" The two kids shook their heads as they stood up and went with Shino. Later he returned to the building to fulfil his promise and as expected, the hand was just a dummy placed there for the scenario, but in his mind it was worth it.

'_How is that? A fake hero pretending to save fake civilians, it's like a movie or something. You're no hero, so why even try, huh?_' the voice returned once again but this time Shino decided to ignore it in favor of searching for other civilians and right when he found one, the voice disappeared.

Time went on and the ten minutes neared their end, by the end Shino delivered another survivor as the medical team came around signaling the end of the exam, or so everyone thought.

Suddenly, the wall near the Medical ward broke and in came many people wearing identical costumes ad after them came the hero ranked third in the most villainous looking heroes, Gang Orca. They were posing as villains that came were responsible of the destruction of the site and came to finish the job. What ensued was a fight between the hundred participants and the fake villains.

While some went straight to face Gang Orca like Bakugo and Todoroki, Shino prioritized taking down the underlings as they were the immediate danger to the civilians and medical staff. He would turn part of the ground to gold then shoot it at the villains then manipulate it to cover their hands and legs making sure to block their guns that shot some sort of sticky glue that pinned down some of the other students.

Eventually the villains were suppressed soon after the "defeat" of their leader Gang Orca. And the students were escorted out and were told that the scores will be posted shortly. Shino stood outside along with the other participants waiting anxiously for their results. Finally, after a short while the scores were posted on a screen and the students rushed to see them.

Everyone from class 1-A passed the test, and received a provisional license, except Bakugo and Todoroki which was very surprising for their classmates. in the eyes of the government and the ones conducting the exam, Shino was a hero. However, he didn't feel happiness, he didn't feel excitement, this was supposed to be a cause for celebration for him, but instead he felt undeserving, he felt even more guilt as he stared down the plastic card with his name, photo and hero name on it and felt like it was cursing at him.

'_That's right, you don't deserve this, there were many more deserving than you, but because of your selfish and undeserved desire of redemption, they didn't get their chance. Some of them were probably third years and just lost three years' worth of hard work and training because of a fake like you.__Do you really think they would've given this to you if they knew the villain that you really are? Not that it changes anything._'

'_I know it doesn't, but I needed it to advance my plan. Everyone, I hope that one day you could forgive me for everything._' With that, the first part of Shino's plan was successful, all he had to do next was get recruited by one of the top heroes investigating Apotheosis, and it should be smooth sailing from there, but is it really that easy?

**In an underground base:**

A slimy face with a red orb swimming in it looks down the corridors making sure no one is around before dragging the rest of its body down towards the closed gates and pressing the mechanism only members know to open the gates and reveal an open forest filled with high and thick-leaved trees that barely allowed any sun light to go through.

"Finally! Dad never lets me go outside on my own, but I'm an adult and I can do whatever I want. Not like anybody can defeat me anyways. Big city! Here I come!" the slime shouted as he ran in what he thought is the direction of the city.

**Thank you for reading.**


	22. Chapter 22

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Oi Teme: I wouldn't really call it edgy, imagine if you thought you're responsible for the death and injury of over a hundred people including but not limited to, your own friends and classmates. The guilt from that would definitely mess with your mind and despite me not showing it that much (one of my biggest regrets), the Kamino incident really affected Shino, also Shino as stated before, is a very expressive person who can't hide his true feelings, even if lies and says what he doesn't mean, he can't fake the expression on his face. Nonetheless, I appreciate any criticism.**

**Imya: Thank you, I will try my best and await any criticism from you and everyone else in the future.**

**Chapter 22**

Many people from the 100 participants who advanced to the second exam failed, but most of them passed, which probably made failing feel even worst. It was so bad that it made Bakugo's ego drop down significantly and made him relatively calmer -as calm as Bakugo can be at least-. The hero committee, deciding that the best way to deal with the rise in crime rates after All-Might's retirement was to increase the number of heroes on the streets, choosing quantity over quality, offered those who failed remedial classes which if they passed, they would be given their provisional license the same as the others who passed the exam.

For that reason, class 1-A decided to postpone their celebration of getting their licenses until both Bakugo and Todoroki got them so the whole class would celebrate together. Shino didn't mind since he wasn't going to celebrate with them anyway and by the time the two got their licenses, he would most likely not be here anymore. Instead he went to his room as usual to think of his next move, which is applying to one of the heroes involved in the Apotheosis investigation.

Things were different in the class 1-B dorms as music could be heard from them. Unlike class 1-A, all the students of class 1-B had passed the exam and obtained their provisional hero licenses, and as such, were throwing a party to celebrate their success, after asking Vlad King's permission first of course. However, one student of class 1-B wasn't as happy as the others as her mind was occupied by a certain blonde that hasn't been acting himself for a while.

She was sitting on the couch with a drink in her hands and an absent-minded expression on her face when Tokage literally dropped next to her causing her to almost drop her drink. "Hey Big-Sis? Why are you all gloomy and silent? If no one told you, this is a party, we're supposed to celebrate and have fun, not go through an existential crisis." She said with her usual smirk.

"It's nothing Setsuna, I just have a lot on my mind." Itsuka said while staring at her reflection in her drink. Tokage could tell with one glance that Itsuka was very troubled.

Tokage's smirk dropped, "Did something happen with Shino?" She asked with concern in her voice while placing her hand on Itsuka's shoulder in a comforting fashion to encourage her to talk about her problem.

"I don't know what happened to him when the villains kidnapped him, but he changed. He became colder and more reclusive."

"That doesn't sound like him at all." Tokage adjusted herself on the couch and was now giving the troubled Itsuka her full attention.

"I know right! The worst thing about it is that every time I try to ask him what's wrong, he says he's okay and fine and somehow finds an excuse to end the conversation short before I can ask more questions, and he never smiles anymore, always having that infuriating scowl on his face. And he said I don't know him as well as I think and me worrying about him is just asking useless questions." Itsuka spoke her frustrations out to Tokage who couldn't hide her shock and surprise from what she was hearing. Thankfully, the rest of their class were too busy with talking or eating or playing videogames to pay attention to the two girls' conversation.

"There is definitely something wrong here, that's not the same Shino I remember."Tokage had to admit. "Did you ask the others from class 1-A? Maybe they know something." Tokage suggested since they've been living with him for some time now.

"I did, and it was a mystery to them too, they said that he doesn't come out of his room unless to train and if it's necessary, and in the weekends he gets permission from Eraser Head to go out and spends the whole day outside before returning to train even more and then back to his room. I don't know what's going on inside his head and it's messing my head too."

"What about Bakugo? He was kidnapped along with Shino, maybe he knows something?" Tokage was running out of ideas and it showed since she suggested talking to Bakugo.

"You think I didn't think of that? He's a lost cause too, every time I try to ask him he growls and shouts like a wild animal. He definitely knows something but is keeping quiet." Itsuka said with anger clear in voice, she remembered Shino's analysis on Bakugo's behavior and saw how he treats others around him, but because she never had an interaction with him before, she still wasn't ready for the boy's explosive personality when directed straight at her. She could however sense a defensive tone in his voice, which meant he knew something but wouldn't tell, and that frustrated her even more.

"Why did it have to be the nice guy that changed? Couldn't this happen to that asshole instead?" Tokage said over-dramatically to try and lighten up Itsuka's mood but it wasn't working and in fact, it might have made it worse.

"Anyway, this is quite the problem." Tokage coughed up before looking ahead with a focused expression trying to come up with any idea that would help them get to the bottom of why Shino's behavior changed, and after some thinking, an idea presented it itself to Tokage, but it would be risky in more ways than one.

"Big-Sis, I have an idea, but it might be a little risky." Itsuka looked at her green-haired friend with a raised eyebrow before giving her a face that said 'I about ready to do anything so why not'.

"Just say it already."

"How about we sneak into Shino's room and see what he's up to?"

Itsuka just started at Tokage for a moment making sure she was serious, unfortunately she was. "You do realize that we'll soon be past curfew right? The only reason Vlad King allowed us this is because tomorrow is the weekend and he was really happy that we all passed the exam."

"So you're problem isn't we're gonna break into his room uninvited but that the time is not right? You think he's gonna be sleeping now?" Tokage asked a bit surprised by her class president's willingness and worried that her plan would fall apart before it even started.

"One thing I learned from Shino is that sometimes you have to bend the rules to get the villains. Shino doesn't sleep until past noon at the least, since I know he's still working on his figures, I know he'll be still awake way past curfew." Itsuka said with a hint of pride in her knowledge as if trying to prove Shino's words wrong.

Tokage looked at Itsuka with concern still on her face, but now for very different reasons. "Anyways, you don't need to worry about that, have you forgotten what my quirk is? All we have to do is get one of my eyes and ears inside that room and we will be able see and hear everything." She said while pointing at herself.

Itsuka had a bad feeling about this, "And how are you gonna get them in his room?"

Tokage's smirk returned as she stared at Itsuka and Itsuka's bad feeling grew stronger, "What? Why are you staring at me like this?"

A few minutes later, Itsuka found herself in front of the class 1-A dorms, with an eyeball and an ear in her pockets. "Tokage if you can hear me, this plan of yours better work or else…" She left the end of that threat open-ended to allow Tokage's wild imagination to take hold and started walking to the main entrance of the dorms.

Knocking on the door, she was greeted by Midoriya who allowed her to enter. Since it was close to curfew, there weren't many people in the common hall, she could see Uraraka, Iida and Tsu sitting around the table and seemed to be discussing something when they noticed her and Midoriya approaching and all stood up to greet her.

"Hi everyone, congratulations on getting your provisional licenses." Itsuka greeted the group.

"Hello Kendo, congratulations to you too, if you don't mind me asking, what brings you to our dorms at such an hour?" Iida inquired.

"Well, I wanted to talk to Shino and congratulate him too, but you know how hard he is to pin down and tomorrow is a weekend and he spends most of those outside, so now might be my last chance for a while." Itsuka explained and the group seemed understanding of her situation, she didn't tell them about Tokage's plan but couldn't help but wonder if they would get on board with it considering that they clearly cared for Shino and how many times they broke the rules.

Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida, and Tsu all sighed showing they may have been as frustrated by Shino's situation as Itsuka, "He's still in his room like always, this situation is getting out of hand, but Shino is stubborn and wouldn't say what's bothering him, which in of itself is not like him." Midoriya said looking away from the others and looking at the stairs as if expecting Shino to come down at any moment.

"We were just discussing what to do about that, I thought we could make Toru sneak into his room and try to figure out what he's doing, but Shino would probably find her easily." Tsu said and Itsuka couldn't believe both green-haired girls came up with the same idea, knowing that, she decided to let them in on the plan.

"Actually, I and Setsuna had the same idea, but with her quirk, it would be much better and easier to do. I didn't want to get you guys involved since I didn't know your stance on this, but since you came with that idea too, I guess it's fine. So, what do you guys think?" Itsuka took the risk and waited anxiously for the group's response, this could be beneficial to the plan or end it.

The four looked at each other and the moment their eyes met, it was like a message was sent through their gazes and they came to the same response.

"We're with you." Midoriya said representing all four of them.

"Yeah! Shino is our friend and we can't let him suffer alone like this!" Uraraka exclaimed rather enthusiastically.

"Indeed, although I don't like the method, but Shino had helped me many times, and it's my responsibility both as his friend and the president of class 1-A to help him in his time of need." Iida stated.

"Let's just hope Shino doesn't find out." Tsu accidentally brought down the mood quickly as everyone grimaced at the thought of how an angry Shino would retaliate.

Itsuka felt something shifting in her pocket which reminded her of the most important person for this plan. She turned to the others, "Setsuna should be on the door right now, could you open up for her?" Midoriya went again to the door to open it before jumping backwards while screaming in horror. In entered a laughing Tokage, missing both an eye and ear with apparently scared Midoriya to the bone.

"Sorry there Midoriya I couldn't help it, I always wanted to do that." Tokage apologized but that didn't save her from a slap to the back of her head from Itsuka.

"We don't have time for your jokes, what if the noise alerted Shino or someone else. We don't need this to get too big." Itsuka reprimanded her classmate before turning back to the other four, she put her hand in her pocket and brought out Tokage's eye and ear and showed to them, "I will place these in Shino's room and with this, Setsuna will be able to see and hear everything and relay it to us." The four managed to hide their distraught from seeing the severed eye and ear enough to nod in understanding.

Itsuka walked to elevator but stopped and turned around to face Tokage, "Oh! Before I forget," Itsuka was wearing a smile on her face but had a sinister aura around her and her gaze was piercing, "Setsuna, no funny business from you, understand?"

Tokage gulped and tensed hard, "Of course Big-Sis! I wouldn't dream of it!" She said while saluting and only finally relaxed when Itsuka got in the elevator and the door closed. "Man she can be really scary." The others with her couldn't help but remember Shino's own anger fits and ask themselves, just how compatible those two are?

Itsuka got out of the elevator and headed directly to Shino's room knocking on the door. After a few seconds later the door opened to reveal a somewhat frustrated Shino, but upon realizing who standing on the other side, his expression softened.

"Hey Shino, how are you doing?" Itsuka greeted with a smile.

"Itsuka!" Shino was fairly and justifiably surprised to see the girl, especially so close to curfew. "What are you doing here at this hour?"

"Well, me and my class were celebrating back at our dorms, and I remembered I never congratulated you on passing the exam too, partially because you've been isolating yourself in your room but still. Congratulations!" Itsuka managed to sneak a jab at Shino in her explanation but was still wearing her smile.

"Oh!" Shino looked away, in his eyes Itsuka was a shiny star right now and her light was both warm and calming, but it reminded him of how he hurt her and all his friends and that he was undeserving of that light and warmth, soon he looked back to her. "Thank you, congratulations to you too." He replied in a low voice.

"Could you let me in? I want to talk to you a little." Itsuka requested but Shino looked hesitant to accept.

"Are you sure? Our last talk didn't end very well." He reminded her in hopes of deterring her because he didn't know how well he could handle it before breaking down against her warmth and not knowing that she had a plan to help him, wither he liked it or not.

"I'm sure." She replied with the determination he knew her for.

'_Idiot! You should know better than anyone that she is as stubborn and determined as you, she's not gonna give up easily._' Shino scolded himself for forgetting who he was dealing with. And with a sigh he opened the door to allow her to come in. Itsuka sat on the bed while Shino sat on his chair as always. Itsuka noticed the half-finished figure on the table and deduced that as she thought, he was working on it when she knocked.

"So, what did want to talk about?" Shino asked to start the conversation.

"Shino we're alone right now so no need to hide stuff, please just tell me what's wrong so I can help." Itsuka said in a pleading voice. Of course that was a lie as there were five other people listening on their conversation right now since Tokage was hearing everything and relaying it to the other four, but Itsuka had to say this in hopes of getting Shino to talk without having to spy on him, despite her willingness to do so, she still didn't like the idea.

Shino looked down then turned around to his figure and started working on it again, "So it's this again, I told you before Itsuka, it's just that after the Kamino incident, I saw how weak I am and decided to dedicate my time to training. You don't have to worry so much." The two were as unmoving as a mountain and wouldn't give up an inch. That's when Itsuka decided that the plan was the only way to get anything from her stubborn boyfriend and used the chance of Shino giving her his back to get the ear and eye out of her pocket and the parts quickly moved under the bed but close enough to see and hear clearly.

"We've always told each other about our problems, what makes this different?" She asked and the question seriously hurt Shino's heart, so much that he was glad he turned around because tears were forming under his eyes and his voice if it came out at that instance would've been cracked.

'_Because I'm the problem, it's all my fault, it all happened because of me._' He so desperately wanted to say those words, to tell Itsuka about everything and have her comfort him like she always did, but he couldn't, because if he did tell her everything, she wouldn't comfort him, she'd hate him, and he couldn't take that, he'd rather die than have Itsuka or any of his friends hate him, but especially Itsuka.

It took Shino a few seconds to compose himself before replying, "Because it's not really a problem Itsuka, it was just my decision." Is what he actually said.

"I see." Itsuka seeing no end to this back and forth between them and with the spies already in position decided to take her leave, "If you say so, then fine Shino." She got up and walked to the door and opened it but before she got out, she turned to face Shino, "Just know that if there is anything you want to talk about, I'll always be there." She said before walking away and closing the door behind her leaving Shino to what he thought was his lonesome.

While Itsuka went down to group up with the others, Shino was staring at the figure as he continued his work, "Sorry Itsuka, I wish I could tell you, but I hurt you enough already and I can't allow you to suffer any more because of me, I hope you can forgive me."

'_That's right, you're no good to anyone, all you know is to hurt people and take away what they love, and you know that she won't give up, how much can you handle I wonder?_' The voice returned again to torment Shino once again.

Being in a very bad mood after his talk with Itsuka, Shino quickly snapped at the invisible voice, "Shut up already!" He shouted and in his anger stabbed his tool in the figure he was working on. As soon as he did that, he realized his mistake and face-palmed, "God damn it! That was a whole week's work, and now it ruined! Thankfully, it wasn't one of the figure I'm delivering tomorrow." Grabbing the stabbed figure, he pulled out the tool and threw away the figure to one of the room's empty corners. "Fuck it, I'll work on it later, now I guess would be a good time to think about which hero agency I should apply to, there are seven agencies involved in the investigation, only two are top heroes those being Kamui Woods and Edge Shot, the others are just local or fairly-known heroes. Knowing this, my best chance would be joining one of the two top heroes, but that might bring too much attention to me, in which case joining one of the others is more preferable, but they don't have the same capability or involvement as the top heroes, they're probably just back-up."

'_So not only did steal the chances of others for getting their licenses, but you also want to take others' chances to work for top heroes, does your greed and selfishness know no bound? Oh who am I kidding? Of course they don't, right?_'

Shino growl in irritation but didn't respond to the voice's tries to agitate him instead trying to occupy his mind with thinking of his future plan. "That reminds me, I keep talking about choosing the right agency but it's not me who choses, all I can do is apply and they might turn me down. Then what should I do? The best way is to try to appeal to them and convince them to take me in, that would need a lot of research, so I should start now to finish before the applying period starts." Shino quickly pulled out his laptop and started working.

'_Deny it all you want but deep down you know that you're no different than any other villain out there, in fact, you might be even worse._' The voice once again tried to agitate Shino but he didn't have time to fight himself, there was too much work to be done.

Back at the common area of the class 1-A dorms, Itsuka, Tokage, Midoriya, Iida, Uraraka, and Tsu have listened to the entire thing and were both concerned and perplexed.

"Well looks like he's going crazy and talking to himself." Tokage joked and received another slab on the back of her head from Itsuka in response.

"So as I thought, he does blame himself for the attack on the camp and the Kamino incident." Itsuka said, she was both touched and saddened when she heard Shino say that he didn't want to hurt her anymore, but she never blamed him for what happened or thought that it was his fault, it was the villains' fault, but here he was tormenting himself with guilt over it.

"It makes sense that he would feel like that." Tsu stated with her usual plank expression that perfectly hid her worry.

"But it wasn't his fault!" Itsuka quickly leapt out of her chair and came to Shino defense.

"I didn't say it was his fault, but that it makes sense that would think that since the villains came for him and Bakugo and in the process hurt many of us, but I don't think it his fault either." Tsu explained and Itsuka returned to her seat feeling a bit embarrassed by her sudden shout.

"But most importantly, Shino seems to be planning on which hero agency to apply to for the workplace program." Iida brought attention to the second half of Shino's talk.

"He talked about an investigation of some sorts, are the heroes looking for the league of villains or something?" Midoriya asked but no one had an answer.

"I don't think I heard of any investigations about the league since they went into hiding." Uraraka stated.

"Neither have I, but then where did he get this information then?" Tokage asked the question but Itsuka had an answer.

"I remember Shino telling me that the detective that worked on his parents' case kept in touch, acting like his adaptive father, his name was detective Hamura if I remember correctly, Shino might be getting information from him." Itsuka informed the others and they all agreed that this was the most likely answer.

Itsuka looked at the clock hanging on the wall and saw that it was about time she and Tokage returned to their dorms and let the others go to sleep since they didn't have permission to stay past curfew like them.

"We'll have to return to our dorms now, don't want to get you guys in trouble, if anything new happens we'll inform you tomorrow." Itsuka got up along with Tokage, but before heading to the door, she had one more suggestion. "I think we'll get a lot of answers if we follow Shino when he get out of school tomorrow, what do you think?"

The others considered this idea but were a bit hesitant to go through with it since this was basically staking even if it was for the right reasons.

"I think you're right, we're still missing a lot of details and there is a high possibility that Shino would meet with the detective tomorrow." Midoriya supported Itsuka's suggestion and with him agreeing the other three soon followed.

Itsuka sighed in relief, "Good, but we can't go all together or he'll easily find out what were up to, so we'll go in groups of two, me and Tokage will be first and will follow Shino tomorrow, we'll decide on the other groups later if needed. Is everyone okay with that?" everyone nodded in agreement.

Itsuka and Tokage went on their way to the dorms while Midoriya and the others went to their rooms, all six were relieved to know to at least now have clue as to how to help their friend, but none were happier than Itsuka, know that Shino probably didn't mean what he said to her made her extremely happy, and with the help of Tokage and the others, she's gonna help Shino like he helped her many times.

'_Just wait Shino, I'll find out the source of your suffering and remove it, and then you can return to the real you, the real Shino I love. That I swear!_'

**Thank you for Reading.**


	23. Chapter 23

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 23**

Weekends came around and Itsuka woke up earlier than usual, she had a busy day after all, she needed to make sure her and Tokage were ready to follow Shino all day as he made his deliveries, and hopefully find some more details about his plans and what investigation he was talking about.

There was a problem that she didn't expect however. While everyone returned to their room after agreeing on the plan, Tokage was forced to keep listen to Shino sound the pros and cons of every hero agency and what joining each of them would benefit him as well as the personality of each of the heroes and how he could convince them to accept him in their agency. This continued for the better part of the night denying Tokage her precious sleep that she craved so much after expending her energy in the class party. It wasn't until Shino himself decided to go to sleep that she was finally able to close her eyes and travel to dreamland.

Unlike Shino however, Tokage needed her eight hours of sleep and wouldn't give up any second of them even if the whole dorms crumbled over her head. That's why at the moment she was in a deep slumber that no matter how hard Itsuka tried to wake her from, she wouldn't wake up. And Itsuka tried hard, but no matter how many times she shook the green-haired girl or doused her with water or slapped her, Tokage was a lost cause and there was no way in hell she was gonna wake up before Shino head out.

This threw a ranch into the plan since without Tokage's quirk, tracking Shino and listening in on him becomes much harder to do, but Itsuka wasn't one to give up so easily, she went back to her room to get ready, Midoriya had promised to inform her the moment Shino heads out. First, she had to wear clothes that Shino didn't see her in before to make sure she doesn't get noticed, on top of that she wore a one of her gym hoodies in order to cover her head with it since it would probably be the first thing Shino notices. She knew that since streets would be empty this early in the day but would be crowded by the evening, Shino would most likely use his hover board to get around, that made him easy to find but hard to follow. Fortunately, Itsuka had a pretty good idea of the layout of the area thanks to her long jogs with her father during her training to enter U.A. and had the map ready on her phone just in case.

Thinking of her training with her dad brought back memories of when Shino came to her father's dojo and the challenge he had to go through. Watching the fight back then, she was curtain Shino was gonna lose, there was just no way for him to win, but even when he was getting pummeled by the experienced fighter, he gave her a smile, and for a second there, all her worries disappeared and she actually thought that he might win. How long has it been since she last saw that warm smile, it felt like an eternity even though it was barely a couple of weeks since then, Itsuka has become reliant on that smile for emotional support and would always remember it whenever she had a hard time, but with it gone and now replaced with a cold scowl, Itsuka's own smile was starting fade. She remembered Shino's word last night, and now that she knew that behind the scowl was a tormented soul drowning in guilt over something that she believed wasn't his fault to begin with, that only gave her more drive to save Shino no matter what it takes.

"Whatever happened to you Shino, I will help you just like you helped me many times. Just wait for me." Itsuka said with while pumping her fist in the air with determination.

Right on cue, Itsuka's phone rang signaling a message. Opening it, it was from Midoriya informing her that Shino has just got out of the dorms and is heading to the gates.

"Looks like it's time." With that Itsuka rushed out of her room and down the stairs to the common area of her dorm and out of the door.

Reaching the main gate of the school, she could make out the shape of Shino with two big bags on each side and passing through, so she waited a little bit before following him, she had already gotten permission from Vlad King in preparation for today and assumed Shino had done the same.

As she expected, as soon as Shino got out of school, he brought out his hover board and headed to where he needed to deliver the figures that were in the bags. Thankfully, the streets were indeed relatively empty allowing her to easily keep up with him and he didn't seem to be in a hurry and as such didn't go at full speed, but she can't celebrate just yet, empty streets meant less places to hide so she had to be extremely careful not to get spotted or else Shino might go full speed and she will lose him.

Shino arrived at what looked like a mansion, he stepped in front of the intercom and pressed the button, suddenly the security camera at the other end of the gate that was facing the street turned to his direction and stared at him for a few seconds before returning to its original position and the gate opened, Shino shrugged this off and entered through the gate to meet an elderly man who was wearing a butler attire, the butler greeted Shino very formally then asked for the figure. As soon as Shino delivered the box to him, the butler gave him his payment along with a very dry thanks before closing the door in his face, Shino really didn't care, being in this business for as long as he has, he knew that not all customers are gonna be friendly. Having finished his delivery, Shino didn't waste any time getting on his hover board before heading out to his next destination arriving later on at a much smaller house where a woman opened the door to him with a smile.

"Hello there young man, it's good to see you again in such good health." The woman gave a warm and hearty greeting. She was one of Shino's regulars who loved collecting figures of various wild animals, whenever she would find an animal that caught her interest and had enough money, she would contact Shino with the photo of that animal requesting a figure, she was always sweet and considerate and as one of his favorite regulars, Shino would always give her discounts and would accept her payment even if she was short on money.

"It's nice to see you too ma'am. I hope you've been healthy as well." Shino greeted while burying his face in his bag looking for the woman's order, but that was just an excuse, in reality, he knew where the figure was since he always places them in order, but he wanted to hide his face from the kind woman. For how little he's seen her interact with other people, she had a keen eye for detail and could spot the smallest of changes in someone's look or behavior, so his scowl would be as obvious as the sun.

Shino finally "found" the box and quickly handed it to the lady who already had the money in her hand then quickly turned around and started walking away when the elderly woman called out to him. "Thank you young man, it is nice of you to listen to the request of this old lady when I'm sure you're really busy."

"Not at all ma'am, I'm happy to help and you still pay me so it's no problem" Shino replied without turning around, he really needed to go.

"But you do seem troubled my boy, do want to come inside and talk about it?" The woman's words stopped Shino in his tracks, even though he tried to hide his face, it seemed that her keen eyes spotted the difference either way. If he could be honest with himself, her offer sounded very tempting at the moment, he's been bottling up his feelings of guilt and shame for too long and it ate at his heart so much and he wanted to release them so badly and the voice in his head wasn't making things easy, but he can't, he can't trouble this kind woman with his life, or any one for that matter, that's why he pushed everyone away, both because he felt undeserving of their sympathy and kindness and out of fear of their reaction when they hear it.

"Sorry ma'am, but I have many other deliveries to make, so I need to go now." Shino declined the woman's offer while still giving her his back.

"Oh, that's a shame, but you can come anytime you want to talk about it, my door will always be open for you." The woman said with a smile although Shino couldn't it before closing the door.

Shino walked in silence to the road before getting back on his hover board and taking off. Unknown to him, Itsuka was hiding just a few meters away listening on the conversation and moved after him. He went on delivering the figures until the last one remained, and it was a special one. It was wrapped in red with a green knot on top of it unlike the others who were just inside white boxes. The reason for that was that it was a present a father had requested for his son for his birthday. A figure of the hero Kamui Woods, the boy's favorite hero.

Shino arrived at the house and could already see the birthday decorations on the front ward and inside the house through the window. He knocked on the door and a tall man with black hair and thick-framed black glasses opened the door.

"Yes? Can I help you?" The man asked.

"I'm here to deliver the figure you requested." Shino answered as he fished the wrapped box out of the bag and showed it to the man. As the man was examining the box, Shino could see the decorations more clearly now, there was everything from banners and paper Mache littered everywhere a table was clearly visible with the birthday cake on it along with several paper plates. The presents were all grouped in a corner and were still unopened.

"You came at a perfect time!" the man's eyes gleamed with excitement and quickly turned to face inside the house. "Jimmy! Jimmy come here quick, there is a surprise for you!" The man shouted and Shino watched as about twelve kids manifested out of nowhere almost scaring him to death, all the kids looked about eight or nine and were all wearing birthday hats with matching colors except one kid who seemed to be leading the group, Shino assumed he was the birthday boy. "Jimmy! How many times did I tell you not to use your quirk without permission?" The father reprimanded his son but didn't look angry at him.

"Sorry dad." The boy apologized and looked regretful but his dad smiled at him than handed the boy his present. "No problem, as long as you learn. Here's the present I promised you."

The boy couldn't snatch the box faster than he did as he started to practically vibrate with excitement, the others behind him were just as excited as well. "Can I open it now?! Can I?!" The boy begged his father doing a very good puppy-dog eyes expression.

The father chuckled, "Sure champ, you're the birthday boy." He said as he rubbed his son's head.

"Yes!" The boy jumped with happiness and immediately started ripping the wrapping and opened the box to reveal the figure of Kamui Woods in a pose with his right hand in the process of sprouting tree trunks. "Awesome! It's Kamui Woods! And it looks so real!" The boy exclaimed as he started showing off his new figure to his friends. He then turned to his father and hugged him tightly, "Thanks dad!"

The father hugged back with a huge smile on his face, "Anything for you champ, it's your birthday after all."

While this was happening, none of them noticed Shino's pained and saddened expression. Seeing the birthday decorations and cake, how the kid was extremely excited to receive his gift, and how the father looked happy to see his son's happiness. It all brought back memories that Shino now considers painful, memories of the few birthdays he had with his mother and father in their house, before everything went to hell both figuratively and latterly, memories of the birthdays he himself would organize for his siblings and birthdays they for him in return, all memories that he cherished but were now tainted with guilt and self-hatred. Shino couldn't help but envy the family in front of him, they lived a happy life unaware of the dangers that lurk in every shadow. He could've lived like that too along with his parents, if only he wasn't born with this quirk of his, that curse that destroyed his life time and time again. These feelings stabbed at his heart like poisoned swords.

He wasn't the only one with his heart aching however, Itsuka wasn't far away and could see Shino's pain when no one else did, and it ate away at her heart too. She wanted to run over there and hug him, show him that he didn't have to beat himself up or hide his feelings, that neither she nor anyone else blamed him for what happened so his heart would be at ease once again, but she couldn't do that, not yet at least, she still needed to know what was that investigation he talked about and that seemed so important that he would stay all night researching heroes for it.

Shino couldn't wait to get his money and get out of their before he breaks down in front of strangers and as soon as the father gave him his payment, he bolted out of their without even counting the money or even looking at it for that matter, and of course Itsuka was following behind but she was struggling to keep track of him because of his speed as Shino went around the city aimlessly to vent his feelings before heading to the park to meet up with detective Hamura.

Finally arriving at the park, Shino quickly dismounted from his hover board then molded it into his belt to act as training weights, Itsuka wasn't far behind somehow managing to follow Shino but was so out of breath that she had to stop for a minute to talk her breath. She entered the park and started looking for Shino but making sure she wasn't the one found by mistake. Soon enough, she found him sitting on one of the benches scattered around the park. Next to him was a man no taller than her wearing brown suit jacket over a white shirt and brown suit pants and black shoes, she knew that this was detective Hamura since Shino described him to her before. She quickly got into a position where she was close enough to hear their conversation, but far enough so that they couldn't feeling her gaze fixed on them.

Detective Hamura could see the tired expression on Shino face as he handed him the money and knew that something happened, "How have you been doing Shino? You look tired." The elder man asked purely out of concern.

Shino however was emotionally exhausted and so his response came out dry, "Nothing much, deliveries took longer than expected." From this response, the detective knew that Shino didn't want to talk about it at the moment, and so he dropped the topic.

"Congratulations on getting your provisional hero license, when the others found out they were extremely happy."

"Thanks. How are the kids and Mother and Maria doing?" Shino's question carried a mix of concern and longing.

"They're all good, the kids are studying as usual and Mother and Maria are take them out from time to time to the amusement park or shopping. The money you send really helps out." The detective answered with a smile hoping that Shino learning how much he's helping would ease his pain even if a little. He glanced at Shino to see his reaction, and for a second, he could see the edges of Shino's lips ever so slightly curved upwards but it was a stark contrast from the usual scowl that even Itsuka noticed it and her heart jumped in delight, but as fast as that pseudo-smile came, it vanished and the scowl everyone hated -even Shino himself- came back.

"That's good to hear. And what about the investigation?" Shino asked and both Itsuka and detective Hamura sighed in disappointment. Itsuka focused all her attention on the conversation now, this was what she came for after all.

"The investigation isn't going well I'm afraid, we only managed to capture one suspect that confessed to being a member but before we could do any further questioning, he died in his cell, we still haven't figured out if it was suicide or if he was killed to keep him silent."

Shino gritted his teeth in frustration and anger, "Damn it, all this to get one member only the bastard to die. As I thought, this won't end anytime soon if we don't find out how they distinguish their members from other mutant type quirk holders. Which hero captured the member?"

"It was Edge Shot, in one of the raids on the weapons deal, he found him trying to take the weapons and run and quickly captured him." Shino considered this for a moment, '_It looks like my choice to apply to Edge Shot's agency was the right one._'

Itsuka was hearing this and was very confused, '_Why specifically mutant quirks? The league had few people with mutations as far as we know, could there be other members the police and heroes kept secret? Or is there another group helping the league?_' question kept piling up in Itsuka's mind that she didn't notice the conversation had ended until Shino stood up. She quickly hid her face so that he would notice her by mistake.

Shino left the park and was probably heading back to the school, but Itsuka didn't follow him, instead she had her eyes fixed on the detective who was still sitting on the bench, if anyone knew what was happening to Shino, he would.

"Detective Hamura I assume?" She brought the detective's attention to her as she approached him while removing the hoodie to expose her face. The moment the detective saw her face, he instantly recognized her and a worried expression came to his face.

"You're Itsuka Kendo! A student of U.A. right?" The detective asked trying to keep a calm façade in front of the unexpected visitor.

"You know me?" Itsuka was fairly surprised by the detective knowing who she is.

"Of course, Shino told me all about you, for a time, it was all he talked about." The detective's word painted Itsuka's face with a tinge of red, which hadn't happened in a long time, the fact that she was on Shino's mind for so long made her feel happy and special but it also reminded her that the same Shino is now suffering because of guilt he doesn't deserve and that she needed to help him.

She coughed a bit to regain her composure, "I think you can guess that I didn't come here by coincidence right?" the detective's façade was cracking as his assumptions were confirmed.

"I assumed as much." He simply replied.

"In truth, Shino's strange behavior and actions have worried me and his friends for a while now, and so I decided to follow him today and I heard you conversation just now. And needless to say, I have questions I need to ask you." On one hand, detective Hamura was happy that Shino found friends that cared for him so much to go such length to help him out. On the other hand, he knew the truth and how their involvement could put them in danger and that wouldn't settle well with Shino.

"I'm sorry but I'm very busy and need to head back now, it was nice meeting you Miss Kendo but I gotta go." The man said as he stood up and turned to walk away from Itsuka, only for her to stand in his way again.

"I can't you leave without giving me some answers, what is this investigation Shino keeps talking about and what does it have to do with mutant type quirks? Please I need to know, I want to help Shino get over this but I can't help if he's not gonna tell me." Detective Hamura could feel the sincerity in Itsuka's voice which made his next words even harder to say.

"I can't tell you any of that unfortunately as this is an on-going investigation. In addition, please don't involve yourself in what Shino is doing right now, he hiding it in order to protect all of you and what you're doing is throwing away his efforts." The detective wore a stern face as he said those words but Itsuka only got angrier.

"Protect us from what? Are asking me to just stay silent when I can clearly see Shino suffering? Sorry but that isn't happening!" Itsuka's words made the detective Happier than he could ever show right now, but he had to stop Itsuka before she gets herself hurt because that would devastate Shino.

"I know Shino's suffering and believe me I want to help him as much as you do, but he has to do this on his own or else he won't be able to get over it. Please understand that and don't involve yourself in this investigation any further, and don't stop me again, I really need to go." The detective walked past Itsuka and went on his way leaving a very frustrated, angry, and more importantly, concerned Itsuka.

Itsuka returned to the school with only questions and barely any answers. She called Tokage hoping that she had finally woke up, the phone rang for a second before Tokage answered.

"Big-Sis where were you? Shino returned a while ago, I'm sorry I overslept and couldn't come with you." Tokage said as soon as the line connected.

"Don't worry Setsuna, you did your job and were exhausted. Do you know where Shino is right now?" Itsuka asked as she made her way to the dorms.

"I think he's in the training arena right now, why? Did you find something?" Tokage asked concerned since Itsuka tone in asking said she was in a bad mood.

"I'll tell later. Right now I need to head to the training arena." With that Itsuka hung up as she reached the dorms, she quickly got to her room and changed clothes than headed to the training arena where Shino was.

As reported, Shino was indeed training at the moment and didn't seem to be in a good mood himself when Itsuka entered the arena drawing his attention.

"Itsuka? What are you doing here?" Shino asked since he never saw Itsuka use the arena in the weekends.

"I want to have a match with you." Itsuka more demanded than asked.

"I'm not in the mood to spar right now." Shino's answer didn't set well with Itsuka.

"Well I am!" She shouted as she lunged at Shino with her fist balled and her arm reeled back.

Shino quickly assumed a defensive stance to as Itsuka's fist connected with his arms pushing him back, but Itsuka was done yet. She followed that punch with quick axe kick that Shino had to flip backwards to avoid.

"What's wrong with you Itsuka?! What with the aggression?!" Shino demanded an answer since he's never seen Itsuka this angry before.

"Just fight Shino! Or are you just gonna keep defending until I beat you down!" Itsuka wasn't relenting, sending punches and kick at Shino with no rest.

Seeing no other way, Shino rushed at Itsuka dodging her punch and grabbing her extended arm and flipping her over his shoulder, but she grabbed his arm in return and fixed her body to land on her feet and flipped Shino over her shoulder throwing him away. Shino quickly flipped in mid-air and landed on his feet only to be forced to dodge a punch from Itsuka, but this time, he lunched a punch of his own, but Itsuka ducked under it and swept her feet to trip Shino but he jumped back to dodge the attack and gain some distance. Itsuka wasn't about to let him relax however, She quickly lunched at him with her legs stretched out but he dodged to the side and grabbed hold of her leg then threw her to the ground.

Itsuka rolled on the ground but quickly got up, and started running at Shino once again.

The two exchanged more punches with Shino being more on the defensive, in terms of martial arts, he was still far weaker and less experienced than Itsuka. In the end it was her win when he finally went on the attack trying to get her with a kick of his own, she dodged the attack and delivered a powerful punch to his stomach that sent him to flying before hitting the ground with no more energy to stand up.

"Do I look weak to you now?" Itsuka's question caused Shino raise his head inn surprise, which was painful.

"What are you talking about Itsuka? When did I ever say that you were weak?" Shino exclaimed.

"Then why do think that you need to protect me? Who said I needed protection, I'm an aspiring hero, and danger is part of the job, so why do you need to protect me?" Itsuka approached Shino and helped him get up. "I don't want your protection, I want to stand by your side and help you, but you won't let me, and you don't to even tell why." At that moment Shino understood what was going on and his heart was pounding hard.

"Itsuka, it's not that I think you're weak, far from it, I told you before that your strength is one of the things I love about you. But this is something I need to do on my own. Can you please trust me to do so?" Shino looked into Itsuka's eyes as she did his, and she released a sigh.

"I can't promise you I will let this slide, but I trust that you wouldn't worry for nothing, and I know you're strong enough to handle whatever comes your way." She turned around and walked to the door of the arena and left. '_I'm sorry Itsuka, I hope you can forgive me for lying to you._' Shino thought to himself as he returned to his training.

'_I'm sorry Shino, I do trust you, but I too worry about you and won't rest until I see that smile of yours._' Itsuka thought as she made her way to the dorms, she needed to contact Midoriya and the others to see their next move.

The next morning Shino went down to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee and found everyone standing in of Aizawa with the only exception being Midoriya and Bakugo. Getting closer, he that saw the two missing students were actually cleaning the living room with obvious fight wounds covered by bandages on both of them.

Aizawa cleared his throat to get everyone's attention "These two broke the dorms rules and sneaked out after curfew and what's more they had a fight and the result is as you see." Aizawa sounded really irritated as he spoke, so much that no one dared to ask for any details in fear of turning the teacher's attention to them. "As such their punishment is as follows, both will have to cleaning duty and won't be allowed to exit dorms under any circumstances except to go to classes." With that Aizawa left and the students dispersed as they talked about what could possibly make Midoriya agree to such a thing since it was clearly Bakugo's plan.

The only ones left still staring the duo were Uraraka, Iida, and Tsu since Todoroki had to get ready for remedial classes. Before they too walked away, Midoriya grabbed Uraraka's hand stopping the trio.

"What is it Deku?" Uraraka asked and Midoriya before speaking turned around to see that no one was close enough to listen.

"I think I figured out something about Shino's investigation." Hearing this the three quickly surrounded Midoriya while double checking no one was around, they then turned to Midoriya.

"Are you sure of your information Midoriya? And how did you acquire them?" Iida couldn't hide his curiosity.

"I can't tell you how I got this but I know for sure it's true." Midoriya told the others and they were skeptical but decided to trust their friend.

"So what information have you got?" Iida quickly asked.

Midoriya took a deep breath, "Have you ever heard the name Apotheosis?"

**Thank you for reading.**


	24. Chapter 24

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 24**

"So what you're telling me is that this Apotheosis organization that only consists of only mutant quirk users has something to do with Shino?" Tokage asked in disbelief. She, Itsuka, Uraraka, Iida, and Tsu were the empty classroom of class 1-B to discuss their private investigation. Unfortunately, the green-haired boy wonder himself wasn't with them since he was prohibited from leaving the dorms.

"Yes, that's the information Midoriya was able to find on the organization. Unfortunately, there wasn't much since this organization seems to be very secretive and shrouded in mystery. So much so that there haven't been any incidents of the police or heroes making a raid on any of their hideouts." Iida further explained.

"It's hard to believe that Bakugo would actually help us, kero." While Midoriya didn't say it, everyone could tell since he came with this information right after his fight with Bakugo and he kept taking glances at him as he explained his findings, still it was hard to believe that he would go out of his way to provide such valuable information though, and more so for Itsuka and Tokage, the two didn't have the highest of opinions concerning class 1-A's hot-headed teen, and for good reasons.

"Are you sure we can trust that guy, doesn't strike me as the helpful fellow, you know what I mean?" Tokage sounded her skepticism and the others couldn't blame her but they had trust in their classmate.

"While Bakugo is always angry and hot-headed and hard to cooperate with, he's not the type to deceive others or mislead them, it's surprising that he told this to anyone much more that he told Midoriya of all people. But I'm sure he wouldn't lie to us." Iida defended his classmate while Uraraka and Tsu nodded in agreement.

"I guess even he changed after that incident." Uraraka added.

"And it does sync up with what I heard Shino and the detective talk about in the park, they mentioned needing to capture a member and that their only known characteristics were having a mutant quirk, so it can't be too far from the truth." Itsuka informed supporting the hypothesis Midoriya came up with.

"Okay, but what's the connection between Shino and that organization? And why are the heroes and police investigating them if they're so mysterious?" Tokage once again asked trying to connect all this new information together, as was the others doing too.

"Since Bakugo was the one to give the name Apotheosis, then Apotheosis must've had something to do with the league's attack on the out summer camp." Uraraka concluded.

"That makes sense, but why would Shino focus one them instead of the league? Could it be that it's a step to get to the league?" Itsuka thought out loud and it made everyone to think in the same line. What they didn't know, or what Bakugo didn't tell anyone, was how focused and determined Shino was in "asking" Shigaraki about the organization's location. That was because in doing so, he would have to admit that, for a second, he was scared, scared of Shino. In all the times he pumped heads with Shino or saw him angry, he could tell that the golden-haired boy would act on his threats, that it was a bluff he used to scare people to fall in line and he would always apologize afterwards, but not that time, when he threatened Shigaraki to cut off his arm, Bakugo could see it, he could see that Shino was ready to act on his threat, that he would have killed Shigaraki and anyone who came in his way, including him, and he wasn't ready to admit that, and maybe he will never be.

"In any case, now we know Shino's target, but what now? It's not like we can interfere with an official investigation, kero" Tsu brought to the group's attention the biggest problem they now faced. It didn't matter whether they knew or not if they couldn't do anything about it.

"Also, the workplace program is starting and we won't have much free time during that to even think of any new ideas." Iida added another problem.

"So what now? Was all of this for nothing in the end? Maybe we should just confront him with what we know?" Tokage was beginning to lose drive and the others couldn't blame her, the idea was certainly appealing.

"We can't do that, if we confront him, he will know that we spied on him to get this information and I don't think he'll be happy about it." Itsuka reminded them why this was a secret in the first place.

"Can't we just say that Bakugo gave us the name and we just researched it?" Tokage countered.

"Do you really think he'll believe that? We still can't believe it ourselves, and how are we gonna explain knowing about the investigation itself? Bakugo didn't tell us that and he had no way of knowing in the first place. Shino will definitely find out." The holes in Tokage's idea kept widening and everyone could see that it won't work. "I guess since there are no ideas, there is no reason to waste time here, for now, let's focus on our training and studies and hopefully in time, something will come up" Everyone agreed seeing as they were too focused on this investigation that they lagged a bit in other areas.

The next day, class 1-A were all present in their classroom and were waiting for Aizawa who was surprisingly late for class. Shino didn't really want to attend classes since he felt they would be wasted on him, but in order to not draw much attention to his activities, he had to attend. As he was looking out of the window counting the seconds until class is finished, the door opened up and in entered Aizawa. He looked around the class making sure everyone was present and meeting some of their curious gazes, he released a tired sigh.

"Since most of you have obtained their provisional license, you will be entering the workplace program and I trust you all know what that is and how important it is for your future careers." All the students nodded but both Bakugo and Todoroki looked away knowing they're the reason there was a "most" instead of "all". "So, in order to prepare you for it, I have invited guests that have experienced it and they will be the ones to tell you about it." On cue, the door opened and three people entered the room, they were wearing the U.A. school uniforms meaning they were fellow students but Shino didn't recognize them, not that he cared to.

The first was a tall boy with a muscular build that was showing even under his school uniform, he had blue oval-shaped eyes, a round nose and blond hair that was styled like cowlick in the top. From how marched energetically and the smile blistered on his face, Shino could guess that he was a loud one, but what really caught his eye in the boy was the noticeable scars on both of his arms, they weren't as deep or as plenty as his own, but they were noticeable enough to make Shino curious about what that man went through to get them.

The second student was girl who was of average height compared to the blonde she stood next too with periwinkle hair that reached down to her knees twisting around itself at the waist point and curving inwards around her legs and bangs around her face. Shino could tell from her royal blue eyes that kept darting around the classroom from one student to another with curiosity, and that she was actively holding herself back from jumping in excitement along with the big smile on her face that this girl was the bubbly and hyperactive kind, and he wanted none of it, not that he had a choice in the first place.

The last one to enter was a far cry from the other two. While he was tall, he had pale skin with hunched shoulders as opposed to the other two's healthy skin and straight posture. He had tall pointy ears and messy indigo hair, his eyes looked tired and were almost always pointed to the ground while the others were facing the crowd. Honestly speaking, he looked like he was suffering from anxiety and wanted to be anywhere else but here and Shino could somewhat identify with that.

"These three are the top students of the third year hero course students. Even counting Pro heroes, they are said to be at the top, and that's why they're called the big three." Hearing this, the students of class 1-A couldn't help but look at the three standing in front of them in admiration, some looked with reverence and curiosity while others had a more challenging look on their faces.

"My name is Mirio Togata! Nice to meet you all! Call me Mirio." the blond boy introduced himself as loudly as Shino thought he would.

"I'm Hado Nejire!" The bubbly girl exclaimed as she raised her fist in the air.

"Tamaki Amajiki." The boy with pointed ears said in a low voice and raised his head to meet the curious gazes of class 1-A for a second before he quickly turned to face the wall, "I couldn't do it Mirio, imagining them with potato heads didn't help" Class 1-A couldn't believe that one of the strongest hero students couldn't hold eye contact for two seconds but they didn't get time to question that because Nejire took the chance that introduction were out of the way to let her curiosity let loose.

She somehow teleported between asking her juniors personal and invasive questions about either their quirks or appearance, like why Shoji is wearing his mask, or if Mineta sticky balls are considered his hair and so on and so forth but every time she would get distracted by a new question and leaves before they could answer. When she got to Shino, she got uncomfortably close to him. "Is your hair a byproduct of your quirk?" she asked as she toyed with it and before Shino could push her hand away, she was already on his right side. "And what's with the scowl you had ever we entered? I remember seeing you all smiley during the festival. I also remember you scars, did something happen to you? Or did you forget how to smile. It goes like this" her question strung a nerve for Shino and stood up loudly.

"Weren't these people supposed to be teaching us something about the workplace program?! Honestly I don't care what they have to tell, but if they're gonna waste my time, then I'm better just training on my own!" Shino exclaimed clearly irritated.

"You're absolutely right my friend! We have come to show you what you should expect from the program and your words just now gave me a great idea!" Mirio exclaimed. "What better way to show you than a practice match!" Mirio then turned to Aizawa looking for a response.

"Fine whatever." Aizawa answered dryly.

"No fair Mirio! Why do you get to have all the fun?!" Nejire objected but Tamaki didn't seem to have a problem.

"I'm fine with that." He said while still facing the wall.

"You heard it! Let's go to the training area!" Mirio shouted as he assumed the leader position guiding the arena even though they already knew where it is.

At the training arena, everyone were in their P.E. uniforms, that's when they noticed that only Mirio was gonna face them.

"Wait, aren't the other two gonna join this? You can't really be planning to face all nineteen of us alone are you? Sero pointed out. Bakugo and Todoroki weren't allowed to participate since this was training for those who obtained the provisional license which really pissed off the explosive teen, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it, so he just rested his back on the wall and started mumbling angrily while Todoroki quietly accepted and stood next to him.

"Of course! Don't underestimate me and go all out okay!" Mirio said as he was doing warm-ups which set off all sort of warning alarms in Shino's head. Mirio didn't look like the overconfident type and even his friends didn't look the least bit concerned or annoyed, in fact, Amakiji was telling Mirio not to overdo it in fear breaking their morals while still facing the wall and Nejire was busy acting her curiosity with no care in the world, so there was no way he was bluffing. Shino decided to hang back and not attack right away to see what Mirio had in store, his classmates on the other hand, all took fighting poses and readied their quirks, the close range fighter stepped forward while the long ranged students stayed back. "So who's gonna attack first? You can come anytime, anywhere." Mirio provoked them.

"I'm first!" Midoriya exclaimed as he activated his quirk and lunched himself at Mirio. Everyone were waiting to see what quirk will Mirio show them, but none of them expected his clothes to suddenly slip off leaving him in his birthday suit which stunned them for a moment and Shino could hear Bakugo shouting "What the fuck?!" from where he stood next to Todoroki and Aizawa.

The shock dissipated however when they saw not only Midoriya's punch but Midoriya himself slipped through Mirio and some of the ranged attackers quickly followed up with their own attacks. Unfortunately, their luck wasn't better than Midoriya as all the attacks passed harmlessly through Mirio and almost hit Midoriya instead but he dodged leave them to hit the rocks behind him creating a small smokescreen that obscured Mirio's location. This forced class 1-A to stop their attacks in order to locate their enemy. The smoke quickly dissipated but Mirio was nowhere to be found.

"Where did he go? Everyone, be wary and don't drop you guard." Iida instructed but there was no way they could have a guarded against what happened next.

Immediately after Iida said that, Mirio appeared out of nowhere behind Jiro still wearing nothing flashing her. Her screams of surprise and horror as she covered her eyes alerted the others that Mirio had somehow teleported to the ranged attacker in the back of the group, but it was too late as he delivered well placed powerful punches to the stomachs of Jiro, Yaoyorozu, Ashido, Tsu, Sero, Kaminari, Koda, Mineta, Shino, Aoyama, and Tokoyami taking out more than half of the class in one fell swoop then shouting "POWER!" while doing a pose.

To say the rest were shocked and horrified at the power of their adversary would be understatement, even Bakugo and Todoroki were watching with wide eyes and mouths.

"How did he do that? Wasn't his quirk supposed to be slipping through things?! Now he can teleport too!" Kirishima shouted.

"And he was strong enough to knock them out with just one punch!" Uraraka added. It was clear that they were panicking, but thankfully Midoriya was there to calm everyone down.

"Guys don't panic, while we don't know the extent of his quirk, the fact is, he came at us head on, if we could form a counter to his attacks, we'll be able to win this." Midoriya's word were like a breath of fresh air to the remaining students giving them hope of victory raising their morals, but they also made Mirio very happy.

"That's right!" Came a voice from behind Mirio and Shino rose from the ground and was levitating in the air, he was in his golden armor but this version was different, it was shaped like an Viking heavy armor while his helmet had wings coming from the sides, he was equipped with a sword in his right hand and a shield on his left, but the most noticeable feature of was the huge wings behind Shino's back, they looked real and detailed with individual feathers clearly visible.

"The hell is that?" Bakugo asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"This is my special move, **Morphing Golden Armor: Valkyrie Style**." This was the move Shino invented to make the most out of his armor and quirk, since he could

"Weren't you knocked down by that punch, and how the hell are you flying?" Bakugo shouted his questions.

"That punch hurt, a lot, but my pain resistance is much higher than normal, one of those isn't enough to knock me out. As for the flying part, that a secret." Shino explained, much to Bakugo dismay and irritation.

"That's impressive!" Mirio commented still wearing his usual smile, but now a bit of competitiveness was showing up in his eyes as he looked at both Shino and Midoriya, one took a full power punch from him and didn't fall down, and the other managed to calmly analyze the situation and come up with a plan as well as rally the others together when they started to panic.

"We'll see how impressed you'll be after this!" Shino shouted as he swung his sward only for the sward to extend several meters down and head straight at Mirio to no avail as the blade passed through him like he wasn't even there. "Let's about this then." Shino said as he threw his shield like a flying disk while swinging his very long sword at Mirio. It didn't seem to work since both the sword swings and the shield went right through Mirio.

'_There's got to be some time interval between him turning intangible and returning to normal, or some body part that he doesn't activate his quirk on, and that would be his weakness, I need to find that if I want to have any chance at winning_' While Shino's line of thought was correct, no matter how much he swung the sword and controlled the shield to attack Mirio, nothing seemed to work or even give him a hint, drastic measure had to be taken if he wanted to win this, and he did.

"Everyone clear out now!" Shino shouted as his wings became much bigger than before and the feathers started to move.

"What is he planning to do?!" Ojiro asked.

"I don't know but I don't want to stick around to see." Kirishim exclaimed as they all made more distance from Mirio who didn't seem to mind.

Seeing the coast clear, Shino lunched his attack as the feathers of his wings shot out like arrows down on Mirio with the speed of bullets covering a wide area in nothing but golden feathers. As the dust dissipated, Mirio was once again nowhere to be seen, until he suddenly lunched out of the ground at incredible speed straight at Shino who tried to swing his sword at the incoming enemy but that didn't work the first hundred times and didn't work now either.

Mirio reeled his arm back for a punch and Shino extended his hand to catch the fist on instinct only for it pass through his hand and head straight to his face. Luckily, Shino's reflexes had improved enough where he quickly extended a hand out of his armor to catch the punch just right before it collided his face. Happy that he finally managed to make contact with Mirio, Shino went for a shield bash, but Mirio was thinking ahead as he used the hand Shino grabbed to help him swing his leg upwards at Shino's head then activated his quirk to slip through his hold, the kick collided with Shino's face, the only part of his body not covered by armor and sent him to the ground.

Mirio wasn't done however, as he fell to the ground, instead of colliding, he went through it only to appear behind Midoriya and the others. But Midoriya was no slouch either, the moment he saw Mirio slip though the ground, he predicted that he would go for him next and so when Mirio appeared, Midoriya was ready and swung his fist at him, Shino also wasn't down yet and quickly lunched himself at the reappearing Mirio. However, there was something those two lacked and that Mirio had plenty of, battle experience, and so Mirio slipped through Midoriya's punch and tried to jab his eyes forcing him to close them, which meant he didn't see Mirio changing attacks and delivering his now-famous punch to the stomach, then he grabbed Midoriya's arm and threw him at the incoming Shino who was surprised by the unorthodox attack and had to remove a big portion of his armor to receive his thrown friend, only to receive a punch to the face along with him that sent the two students flying and finally knocking Shino down. The rest succumbed shortly after and with that class 1-A were wiped out by one man as he shouted "POWER!" once again over the bodies of his defeated foes.

After everyone regained the ability to stand up again, they all gathered in front of Mirio, Nijire, and Tamaki. There Mirio finally explained how his quirk works to the class, unlike what many of them thought, he wasn't teleporting but in fact he was using his quirk to slip through the ground and when he deactivate it, the ground would reject him and throw him out, so by adjusting his position and posture he could control the direction he would be thrown out.

"But still, you were born with some overpowered quirk man." Kirishima said and the rest of class 1-A agreed.

"Wrong, this quirk didn't become like this from the get go, it was through countless hours of training and battle experience that I became what I am today and that's what you're gonna get in this workplace program. Think about it, when I activate my quirk, everything passes through me, so light and sound pass through me as well, meaning I can't see or hear anything, not to mention that air also passes through and I can't breathe no matter hard I try." That's when the reality of the situation dawned on the students of class 1-A which shocked them.

But none were more shocked than Shino, in front of him was someone that suffered because of an inconvenient quirk and had to train tirelessly to be able to use it right, someone like him. Shino had admired Mirio when Aizawa said that he was the closest to be the number one. But now, he admired him because he managed to do what Shino always wanted to do, what he thought he achieved until he was proven wrong recently, to use his quirk to help people and be a hero. But even with how similar Mirio was, he was still different his quirk was a danger to himself only, but Shino's quirk was a danger to anyone but him which put into perspective just how dangerous Shino's quirk could be and that scared Shino to no end.

When Shino returned to his room he noticed the hero files he had with Edge Shot's being on the top, tomorrow was the big day when he would apply to work for the pro hero, he hoped that if Mirio managed to be this strong because of experience he gained from this program, that he too could increase his power with the guidance of a top hero like Edge Shot and finally put an end to the nightmare that had haunted his life for far too long called Apotheosis.

'_You think you can compare yourself to someone like Mirio? How pathetic! All your efforts will be wasted so even try huh?_' The tormenting voice ridiculed Shino.

"You might be right, I'm nothing like Mirio and will never be, and maybe my efforts are meaningless, but I have to give it my all and do my best, that's all I can and could ever do." What Shino didn't know but will soon come to figure out was that he wasn't the only one aiming to join Edge Shot, someone figured out his plan and was going to act on it tomorrow as well. In addition, he didn't know how close he was to coming head to head with Apotheosis.

**Thank you for reading.**


	25. Chapter 25

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 25**

Shino stood in front of what was supposed to be Edge Shot's agency, at least he thought it was. The building looked like it was made in the Edo period and was huge, much bigger than Gunhead's agency, so much so that Shino thought at first that he was entering a museum of some kind. However, once he enter the building, he could see the training grounds and the offices as sidekicks ran left and right each with a job that needed completing, this confirmed that he was in the right place, but more than that, he could help but admire the craftsmanship that managed to perfectly mix the allure and beauty of the traditional Japanese style with the practicality of the regular offices. That left one question to be answered, where should he go to apply, he of course expected that the agency of the number three hero would be big, but not so big that he would be running in circles for half an hour! There weren't even any sign to direct him in the right way. Thankfully, one of the sidekicks noticed the bumbling teen and approached him.

"Hey you there, you seem lost, did you come here for the workplace program?" The young man's callout caught Shino off-guard but he quickly regained his composure and turned to face the sidekick.

"Yes sir, I came to apply but got lost and there are no signs, could tell me where I should go please?" Shino requested but the man's reaction was strange, he looked at Shino with a raised eyebrow and surprise written on his face.

"The waiting room is in the first floor near the entrance, how did you get so lost that ended up in the tenth floor?" This revelation came down on Shino like lightning, was he so engrossed in admiring the building itself that he didn't notice the room?

"Sorry about that, it seems I was absent-minded and didn't notice, I should head there now before I'm even more late. Thank you sir." Shino said before he ran towards the stairs leaving the sidekick staring in his direction until he was out of sight.

"What a strange youngster." He said before returning to his previous business.

Shino finally found the room and that just added to his shock, it was literally the second room to his right when entering the building, he remembered admiring the training areas that were on the left at the time and didn't notice the room.

'_What an idiot! You kept talking about doing your best and all that crap yesterday, yet you get distracted by a pretty building? At this rate, there is no way you will be able to join that stupid investigation, like I told you multiple times, you are no hero, you're just not worthy of the title._'

Shino slapped his cheeks to compose himself before opening the door and entering the room, "I can't get distracted right now! I need to focus or else I might fail. I can't fail when I'm so close. This is the last hurdle, once I get over this I will be able to search for those bastards."

The moment he entered he caught the attention of all twelve other students who came for the same reason, some of them he barely recognized from the license exam and some he didn't, but all of them eyed as he walked to take a seat. Before he could sit though, he heard a voice that he never expected call out to him.

"Shino! You're hear too?!" Itsuka exclaimed as she walked up to him, of course she knew he was gonna be here but didn't want him to figure that out and so play ignorance.

"Itsuka! What are doing here?" Shino hoped from the bottom of his heart that she would say that she's here for any other reason other than applying but he knew better.

"I'm here for the same reason as you obviously." Itsuka answered while putting her hands on her hips as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, 'cause it was.

"Why? Out of every hero in this country, why did you choose Edge Shot?" Shino questioned cursing the heavens above for giving him such bad luck.

"You sound like you don't want me to be here." Itsuka said accusingly, even though she knew Shino meant it out of concern, she didn't like his overprotectiveness of her, or rather didn't see it necessary.

"It's not that, I just want to know why you chose Edge Shot specifically, you didn't tell me anything about it." Shino lied and Itsuka could tell but decided to play along.

"Well Edge Shot is one of the top heroes and exemplary martial artist, I'm aiming for the top too you know and that's an opportunity I can't miss, especially after the disappointment that was the internship. And you would've heard about it if you spent more time outside your room." Of course this was a reason but she also wanted to help Shino in whatever he's doing, but that didn't mean she wouldn't scold Shino a bit for his behavior those past few days.

Shino face palmed, Itsuka's logic was sound and there was no way he could convince her of otherwise, '_This girl is gonna be the death of me._' Despite think that way, Shino couldn't help but feel a little bit happy to see her.

"You didn't tell me why you chose Edge Shot?" This made Shino fluster a bit, he didn't expect to meet anyone here who would ask him such a question.

"You could say I have the same reasons as you, since I learned defense from Gunhead and offense from Master Ichigo, I thought Edge Shot was the best person to learn from next, and I saw his skills back at the rescue mission." Mentioning the that day left a bad taste in Shino's mouth but he had to come up with something, not that it mattered since Itsuka knew the real reason, but he didn't know that.

Just then someone entered the room and called out to everyone present, he was wearing what looked like black and red ninja outfit with red goggles and had kunais mounted on his belt and a metal claw on his left hand, "Everyone! Please give me your attention for a second!" The aspiring heroes complied either turning around to face the man or adjusted in their seats to listen carefully. Shino and Itsuka did the same and the man seeing this began speaking. "I am Nightclaw, one of master Edge Shot's sidekicks, and I'm gonna be the one responsible for testing your abilities to see whether you will be accepted to work under master Edge Shot or not. Please follow me." Nightclaw said before walking out with the students following him.

After exiting the waiting room, they headed to one of the training areas that Shino was admiring before but that one was empty, presumably in preparation for their test.

"Is everyone here?" Asked Nightclaw, after confirming that all thirteen examinees have arrived, he stepped on a part of the floor that was a bit higher than the rest and suddenly the wooden tiles of the floor started to unfold on each other creating a huge bit than a huge platform rose slowly from it. After it rose completely, they could see that it was a huge obstacle course with mounted flamethrowers, spiked bits, swinging axes, a couple of fighting dummies, and two walls that each shoot arrows. The examinees watched as each obstacle started activating one after the other.

After making sure everything was ready, Nightclaw turned to face the students and could see the horror on most of them and honestly felt pity for them, "I'm sure all of you know by now what your test is gonna be. But just to make sure, your test will have you go through this obstacle course without getting hit, of course all the weapons are made non-lethal so you don't have to worry about that you can use your quirks however you want but once you get hit even once you're out."

Itsuka moved closer to Shino, "You think you can do it?" she asked in a whispering voice as to not disturb the others.

"You kidding? I was all worried about this but it turned out to be really easy." Shino said while discretely pointing at the course.

"So who's gonna be the first to go." The examinees' horror somehow increased until one of them stepped up to the plate.

"Out of my way! This test is way too easy!" The student exclaimed with a bombastic laugh, he had quirk that gave him the characteristics of a monkey.

"I guess we have our first participant, what's your name?" Nightclaw asked as he brought out a sheet of paper and a pen.

"The name is Son Wukong, remember it well because I'm gonna strike it big soon!" He exclaimed while jumping and flipping in mid-air landing on his hand.

"Okay buddy, good luck then." Nightclaw said as he stepped to the side to allow Son Goku to enter the course.

The boy leapt on the platform and went through the axes with no problem before jumping between the flamethrowers jokingly to show off how easy it was for him. His mistake came however when he reached the bit and in his excitement jumped too high, what he didn't account for was the fighting dummies activating before he had landed and catching him off-guard with a punch that sent him off the platform.

The boy was so stunned by what happened that he just sat there unmoving for a few seconds before Nightclaw addressed him snapping him to reality. "Sorry but you got hit and as such didn't qualify, you have the option to stay and watch the others going through the test too, or leaving right away."

"No I think I will leave now, thank you." Answered the boy in a low voice before finally standing up and walking out of the room heading to the exit.

Itsuka leaned towards Shino again, "Poor kid, and he was doing so well too, I'm sure he would've succeeded if he didn't act so rashly."

"Yeah, but that's a part of the test too, a hero should never let his guard down until he's sure the enemy is defeated." Shino responded with a serious look that Itsuka didn't like very much but then an idea came to her mind.

"Say, how about we make it a race? Let's see which one of us would complete the test in the shortest time!" She suggested, completely ruling out the chance of either of them failing the test.

"What brought this up?" Shino was quite intrigued by the idea, adding a new rule would make things harder and so much more rewarding and he did choose Edge Shot so he can become stronger like Mirio for his eventual fight against Apotheosis, but he felt Itsuka had ulterior motives behind this challenge.

"I just think it would be more fun that way. So? Are you in or will you chicken out?" Itsuka taunted Shino with a smirk.

"Like hell I am! I'm in!" Shino was going to agree anyway but after what Itsuka said, he had to win.

"Great! Then loser will take the winner to dinner!" Itsuka suddenly exclaimed before moving to the front of the group.

"Wait, what?! I didn't agree to no dinner!" Shino protested the sudden addition of a prize as he followed Itsuka.

"Too late now!" Itsuka then turned to Nightclaw, "Sir, I would like to be next!" she said with enthusiasm.

"Another excited one, let's see if you'll do better. What's your name?" He asked with his eyes now on the paper and pin in his hand ready to write down.

"Itsuka Kendo Sir!"

"Great, Kendo you can start whenever you're ready." He said as he wrote the name.

Itsuka looked back at Shino signaling for him to keep count of the time and took a few steps back before running head first to the platform. The axes proved no match for her as he masterfully jumped between them and thanks to her momentum slid down beneath the flamethrowers doing an absolutely stunning job of bending he knees and back so far down to avoid the fire.

Shino watched mesmerized, Itsuka's elegant and skillful moves put him in some kind of trance, it reminded him of the first time he saw her fight. Itsuka was just as stubborn as him and sometimes she would very doubtful of herself which he couldn't figure out why, but when she was in fight, even when she was training, all that went away leaving him with the most beautiful, elegant, and powerful girl he's ever seen making his heart pound like he ran a ten-mile marathon, but instead of feeling tired, he felt refreshed and happy. Suddenly, the picture of Itsuka laying on the ground with blood pooling around her back at the forest as it burned down with blue flames assaulted Shino's mind causing him to fall down in horror and start to sweat profusely.

'_**That's right, because of you, this beauty was going to be snuffed out like a candle in the wind. You know you don't deserve her, she would be better with someone else, anyone really, as long as it's not you. You can't protect her, she will only get hurt more if she stays with you. And not just her, anyone close to you will be hurt, that is your curse after all. Never forget, that is your destiny.**_**'** The tormenting voice talked again, but this was the first time it came to Shino in the presence of others, usually it would torment him when he was alone, which admittedly was most of the time, but now it was clearly speaking to him and somehow it sounded deeper and louder than before, it became more of growl than an actual voice. Did it become stronger?

'_WHAT DO WANT FROM ME?!_' Shino screamed in his own mind.

'_**I told you before, I'm just reminding you of who really are. A cursed child with a past full of sins and no future. If you think about it. All those people you have failed, they will never forgive you. Defeating Apotheosis will not change that, it will not wipe away sins nor will it ensure the future.**_**'**

'_Maybe! But at least it will stop the immediate danger and with me gone, they wouldn't attack the others which is all I want!_'

'_**That's only if you succeed in defeating them, if they win and manage to capture you again, it will be just like before, and even if you did win, how many people will suffer before that ever happens huh?**_**'**

'_No one will be hurt because of me again, I will not allow it!_'

'_**What can a weakling like you who couldn't help anyone do? You couldn't help your parents, you couldn't help those prisoners, you couldn't help your so-called friends. Wake up from this delusion you're in and realize that you are nothing, you hear me, NOTHING!**_**'**

"Shino are you okay?" Itsuka's voice snapped Shino out of his mental argument against the voice inside his head, she had already went through the obstacle course with no problem prompting claps from everyone, but she didn't care about them, she wanted to see Shino's reaction, but when she turned to him she found him spacing out with a ghostly expression on his face which really concerned her.

When she called out to him, he jerked his head to her direction and she could see fear in his eyes as he looked at her like she was ghost, this was the first time she ever saw him scared, and she didn't like it, fear didn't suit him and she could even say she preferred the scowl over this, at least he still had the determination she knew him for, but now he just looked unsure of himself.

By the time she reached him he had composed himself and that fear she saw earlier had disappeared. "Is everything okay Shino?" she asked as she extended a comforting hand, but before her hand could reach Shino he walked past her.

"I'm fine Itsuka, don't worry. I guess it my time now right?" He said as he walked to Nightclaw to give his name and start.

Itsuka was stunned by the reaction, it was like he didn't want her to touch him and that made her heart ache, '_What happened just now? Why do I feel such grave pain in my chest?_' She turned to watch Shino go through the obstacle course and saw a cold and distant look on his face, it was like he wasn't fully aware of what's happening around him, or he simply didn't care. She felt the pain in herchest grow with every second she looked at Shino.

They say when two people are deeply connected, they can even feel each other's pain, and though she didn't know it at the time, Itsuka was feeling was Shino's pain. Her heart could see the pain behind Shino's eyes and it ached for him.

The obstacles proved no match for Shino's gold of course and he became the second person to pass the test. As he walked down from the platform among claps and cheers, Itsuka walked up to him. "Congrats Shino, by my counting, you won our little race and so I guess I owe you a dinner huh." Itsuka said trying to cheer him up but it didn't seem to work.

"That's cool Itsuka but do mind if I hold on to that for another day? I don't think I can go out today." Itsuka didn't mind, it's not like she's in any hurry. What she did mind however was Shino's attitude, she wasn't about to go through this all over again, she's getting her answers right now, there were still ten people that are yet to undergo the exam which should give her enough time and Nightclaw didn't seem to mind them separating from the group since they already passed the test.

"Shino could come with me for a second?" Itsuka more demanded than asked and started dragging Shino to the side.

"What is it now Itsuka?" Shino complained with groan but that didn't stop Itsuka and now that they were away from others, she turned around to face Shino and looked directly in his eyes. "So, are you going to tell me or should I pry it out of you like last time?"

"What are you talking about?" Shino answered her question with another question visibly confused.

"Don't give that! I saw you during the test, it was like your mind was in another world while your body was moving on auto-pilot or something."

Now that Shino understood what Itsuka meant, he didn't want her to worry over someone like him and decided to ease her heart. "It's nothing serious Itsuka, I just remembered something I wish I didn't, and took some time to come back from that." Itsuka was about to talk but Shino stopped her, "And before you say anything, I can't tell you what it was, everyone has their secrets Itsuka, and I wish to keep mine hidden, it's not that I don't trust you, in fact you're the person I trust most in this world, but it's too painful for me to remember, so I hope you can understand that."

Itsuka was left with nothing to say, so he let her body do the expressing by enveloping Shino in hug, "Just promise me you're really okay." She said in a voice muffled by Shino's clothes.

"I told you I'm okay don't worry about me." Shino said while hugging her back but in truth, he was anything but fine. The scene he saw earlier of Itsuka dying because of him was stuck in his head and came back every time he looked at her, his heart ached and Itsuka could feel it though she didn't know it's source yet they separated after a while but maintained eye contact.

"I just can't help worrying over you with how you've been acting as of late." Itsuka confessed and Shino could help but feel happy that she felt that way but wondered if she would feel the same if she learned the whole truth.

'_**Of course she wouldn't, who would ever want to even associate with someone like you.**_**'**

'_What the hell brought you back?_'

'_**And who said I went away in the first place. I'm always watching you, and I can't wait to see the look you'll have on your face when you lose everything.**_**'**

At that moment Nightclaw came to the two, it turned out that they were the only ones to pass the test and now they would go with him to meet Edge shot which made the two a bit nervous since he's one of the top heroes in the country.

They were surprised that it was in the first floor and when they entered the hero's office they found it was a big room mad in the traditional Japanese style with no chairs but instead small pillows to ease sitting on the ground and overlooked a beautiful pond that housed carp fish and many types of vegetation. Edge Shot's desk was in the far north side of the room and was where the hero resided at the moment looking over some files with a troubled expression when he noticed the door open and Nightclaw along with Shino and Itsuka.

"Hello master, these are the two that passed the test and will be joining us for the workplace program." Nightclaw said as he bowed and signaled to the other two to do the same which they did.

"Thank you Nightclaw, you may take your leave now, I want to talk to them alone." Edge Shot said as he stood up from behind his desk and walked over to them.

"Yes master." With that Nightclaw walked out of the room.

"Welcome Mr. Kazushige and Ms. Kendo to our agency. Mr. Kazushige, I believe we've met before correct?"

"Please call me Shino sir, and yes I was one of the students you saved from the league of villains, I never got a chance to give my thanks for that, thank you."

"Not at all, it was all thanks to All-Might that fought that monster known in human clothes, which is why when I was asked to join an investigation concerning an organization believed to have aided the league called Apotheosis, I agreed immediately. Be aware that I'm giving you this information because you will be assisting me in this case and as such you can not disclose what I'm about to tell you to anyone." The two nodded in understanding.

Edge Shot shared with the two teens what little information they had on the organization which Shino knew all about, and while Itsuka was surprised either since she and the others did some research she made a very convincing act of surprise, she was genially surprised to hear about how hard the heroes had it trying to find any information and how supposed members acted to protect their organization though.

"I would say your timing is perfect, tomorrow we're doing a raid on a weapon's deal that we suspect to be linked to Apotheosis and so you two will join us on that raid, it should prove a good learning experience." Shino could be more excited hearing this, finally he would deliver revenge to some these scums.

After their talk with Edge Shot was over where he asked some general questions about them in order to know them better and create a master-disciple bond asking them to call him master just as his other sidekicks do, Shino and Itsuka made their way back to the dorms as it was already night time.

'_**You're so excited about this, I wonder what could go wrong this time, maybe that girl will get shot or even kidnapped? Now I'm getting excited to see your face of anguish.**_**'**

'_Shut up you! I won't let anything happen to Itsuka, not again._'

'_**Oh? And how are you going to do that? You can't be there every time and you know it.**_**'**

'_Maybe, but I have another way._'

Shino turned to Itsuka, "Can you for me here Itsuka? I have something I want to give you." This caught the girl a little bit off-guard but she didn't mind.

"Sure no problem." She answered with a shrug.

"Thanks I'll be right back." Shino quickly ran to his room and grabbed a box that was under his bed and came back to Itsuka as soon as he could and handed it to her.

"What's that?" She asked as she inspected the box trying to figure out its contents without opening it.

"I know I worry a lot and it can sometimes be annoying so I asked Hatsume to make something for you to provide more protection. Please open it."

Itsuka opened the box to find a pair of black gloves that had metal on the back, "Shino this looks nice and all but you should know that something like this won't work with my quirk." Itsuka said giving the box back to Shino a bit sad that his and Hatsume's efforts were wasted.

Shino pushed the box back to her, "Just allow me to explain first, this is no ordinary glove, it was mad from a similar material to that of Mt. Lady's costume so it will stretch along with your hand and it's actually fire proof and insulated. Along with the metal plates on the backside, there are also metallic parts above the knuckles to increase your attack power. All those are folded plates that will unfold when you increase your hands' size providing you with not only the equivalent of a giant sludge hammer but also a reliable shield to protect yourself with. The whole thing is also padded so it wouldn't cause you any discomfort."

By the end of Shino's explanation, Itsuka had wide eyes and mouth at the amount of detail that was put into the explanation let alone the item itself and Shino could see that.

"Please try it on and you'll see for yourself." He said bringing the gloves out of the box and handing them to her.

Putting on the gloves, they were indeed comfortable, but the real test was when she enlarged her hands. To her astonishment, the gloves did stretch along with her hand and she could feel the plates unfold easily, just as Shino said, not that she thought he was lying but she had her concerns which were all thankfully proven wrong. "This amazing!" She exclaimed as she punched the air to try out her new gift.

"I'm glad you like it." Shino grabbed Itsuka's still large hands and turned her to face him. "Promise me you'll wear these gloves on every mission you go in, that way when I'm not around to protect you, at least I'll now you have the means to protect yourself, would you promise me that?"

Itsuka could feel he heart pounding fast and her face getting hotter, "I-I promise." She said stuttering for a second.

"Thank you." Shino said before kissing her forehead. "I love you Itsuka."

"Me too." They embraced for a moment of blissful silence before parting to each return to their room to get a good night's rest, they had busy day after all.

Shino laid in his bed thinking of far he's come in finally putting an end to Apotheosis's threat. '_Soon Mom, Dad, everyone, soon'_ with that thought he fell asleep.

**Thank for reading.**


	26. Chapter26

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 26**

Shino woke up as early as usual and started his morning training only he made it even harder, he wanted to be as ready as he could be for the mission today, even though there was no guarantee that any of the villains they were busting today would be members of Apotheosis, or that even if they were, there was no guarantee that they would give any useful information or any information at all, but just the fact that there was a chance for all of that to happen and however small it might have been, it was enough to drive Shino to work harder.

"I will catch those Apotheosis bastards and get my revenge, for all those people that suffered because of them, I will return that pain ten-fold!" He chanted to himself as he did his workout alone in the gym, everyone else should have been gone already.

"You seem to be in a good mood." A voice came from the entrance and Shino stopped the treadmill he was using and looked towards the door to find Todoroki standing next to it with his back leaning on the wall.

"Todoroki! What are doing here? Shouldn't you and Bakugo be at the remedial classes for the licenses?" Shino asked surprised that anybody of his class were still here and worried that Todoroki might've heard him talking, he had stopped before Todoroki came in but he wasn't sure that his friend didn't hear anything.

"Class starts later today, so I thought I would do some warm-ups before class. Bakugo is also occupying the training area and refuses to share. I heard noises coming from here and recognized your voice so I thought I would join you, is that not okay?" Todoroki explained as he got on the treadmill next to Shino and turned it on not even waiting for Shino's answer. Shino stared at him for a second but internally released a sigh of relief because it didn't seem like Todoroki heard him, "It's not like I can stop you anyway." Shino said before restarting his own treadmill and continuing his training.

This continued for a while with Shino leaving the treadmill to do some weight-lifting while Todoroki remained on the treadmill and silence covering the atmosphere except of the sound of the machine.

"You didn't tell me what are you doing here? Everyone else left for their workplace, why didn't you?" Todoroki was surprisingly the one to break off the silence. Shino had anticipated this question coming, he had nothing to hide regarding that so there was no problem.

"The others have their normal patrols, but I will be participate in a raid tonight, the briefing will be in the afternoon so I'm using this time to train." Shino said as he did another set of tens.

"Lucky you huh? Just joined and already going on a mission." Todoroki said with his usual straight face but his tone carried some envy which Shino decided to ignore.

"I wouldn't call myself lucky, but I guess the timing was good."

"Shino, can I ask you something?" Todoroki's tone told Shino that this was gonna be something serious.

"I feel like you're gonna ask anyway so just do it." Shino said with a sweat-drop.

"What's Apotheosis?"

Shino stopped his training and looked at Todoroki who had also stopped and was looking back. Shino was now sweating bullets since it turned out that Todoroki had heard him.

"What brought that up?" Shino questioned with worry clear in his voice.

"Well, I heard you say the name and something about revenge, so I was curious." Todoroki said still maintaining his calm and blank expression but his stares suddenly gained a piercing edge to them that made Shino even more uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry Todoroki but these are restricted information that I was ordered to not tell anyone about, the only reason I talked about it was because I thought I was alone." Awkward silence returned until Shino couldn't take it. "Sooo, I guess I'm done so I'll go take a shower then, goodbye." Shino quickly walked out with Todoroki's gaze following him.

**At Apotheosis's hideout:**

"So let me see if I understand this correctly, my only son, the only being in this massive underground base that has a quirk that turns his body into that of a slime, managed not only get past all the guards and security to leave the base, but also hide in the city and was not found yet? Am I getting this right?" Volturnus asked the kneeling Minotaur and Medusa as he sat on his throne with his tail slamming into the ground with enough force to split a skull open doing his best to keep his rage and animal instinct from blinding his judgment.

"U-Unfortunately boss, o-our detection systems could not detect him exactly because of how his body is made out of liquid except for the core, and he seems to have managed to avoid the guards patrolling and get out before anybody noticed him." Minotaur was shaking to his core as he reported to his angry master, Volturnus's predatory gaze piercing through his soul and every slam from his scaly tail almost giving him a heart attack, he glanced at Medusa who was kneeling next to him to find that she was faring any better than he did.

Despite the serene and beautiful scenery they were in right now, being in Volturnus's chamber with the lush greenery and canals that housed clear and clam water and walls covered in gold, they felt like mere prey cornered by a predator awaiting being devoured, it didn't help that the same canals also house many crocodiles that were both trained to obey Volturnus only and that these fearsome monsters were currently watching the two subordinates with hunger in their eyes.

"A-As for why we couldn't locate him yet, i-it's due to the pressure being put on us by the heroes and police forces, we can't send people searching since it will spread rumors that they could get wind of-" Medusa continued Minotaur's report, only to be cut off by a final slam from Volturnus that forced her and Minotaur to put their guard up and close their eyes in fear before slowing opening them to see that they weren't dead just yet. They quickly returned their eyes to Volturnus to find that he stood up from his throne.

"Bring me the ones in charge of watching over my son and the ones in charge of the security cameras this instant!" With a booming voice, Volturnus ordered his two subordinates who quickly scrammed to obey happy that their lives were spared for the time being.

Not a few minutes later were the members Volturnus asked for presented to him, all cowering in fear, some had already broken down and were crying their eyes out, Minotaur and Medusa who were standing behind the group closer to the gates of the chamber, were thankful that this wasn't them getting punished.

"I believe you know why you were brought here?" Volturnus spoke to them still standing atop his throne.

"We beg you master! We didn't do anything! We did out duties as instructed! The young master probably escaped during the changing of shifts! Please spare our lives!" They begged and begged for their lives, but it all fell on deaf ears, Volturnus wasn't interested in knowing whose fault it really was, he just wanted to release his anger and these helpless people of his were simply the outlet for that.

"Apotheosis is a grand and powerful organization that has lived since the appearance of quirks and survived through the harshest of times. It did not do so while having incompetent members like you who couldn't even monitor a single person with no combat or stealth abilities and hasn't even seen the outside world. And as such, you all will be terminated in order to make Apotheosis stronger by weeding out the weak parts." Volturnus extended his hands, and suddenly the water inside the canals started to rise and crawl its way towards the even more frightened subordinates who watched as the water surrounded them before lunging at them and incase them in a huge water ball where they started to suffocate, but their suffering wasn't done yet, Volturnus then snapped his fingers and crocodiles that inhabited the canals rose as well and enter the water ball and immediately attack it's prisoners tearing them limp from limp as the water tainted with the crimson color of blood hid the carnage.

After the killer reptiles finished their meal, not even bones were left as both the crocodiles and water returned to the canals leaving no sign of what just happened. Minotaur and Medusa who watched the whole thing happen right in front of their eyes released a breathe they both knew they held but quickly tensed again when Volturnus started speaking again now sitting back on his throne.

"Find my son, I do not care who you have to ask, I do not care who you have to kill, even if you have to burn the entire city to the ground, you have to bring him back or next time, it'll be you two who'll become food for my bets, understand?"

"Yes boss!" the two answered as they scrammed out of the chamber to start their search for the missing young master.

**At a random warehouse:**

"HAHAHA! I'm on top of the world! This is so great! Dad kept saying the outside world was soooo dangerous, but look at me. Having my own gang, and we're doing a deal tonight. I'll show him that I'm more capable than he thought." Slimy was cheering himself up as he stood on a pile of crates his liquidy hands on his barely defined waist laughing manically as two hoodlums watched with sweat-drops.

"How the hell did we get stuck with that maniac?" One of them asked the other.

"I don't know where he came from but he easily killed our boss and declared himself the new boss, we tried to kill him but all our attacks passed through his liquid-like body, we're forced to submit to him for the time being until we get over with tonight's deal. But if you don't like it, you can tell him yourself." The other replied with a smirk.

"No way man! That dude is crazy!" The first thug exclaimed as he walked away before being stopped by a something wrapping around his waist.

"Where do you think you're going?" Slimy said as he pulled the man towards him stopping when he was right in front of his core that was swimming around in the liquid body. "I asked for ice-cream an hour ago, where the hell is it!" The voice came from the core and he was about to slam the thug on the ground but the other man stopped him in the last minute.

"Wait boss! We sent people to you your ice-cream, but this warehouse is a bit isolated so it takes time, please be patient….and could you please release him."

"Fine." Slimy released the thug he was about to kill and relaxed on his mountain of boxes.

"Now boss, about the people coming tonight for the deal, could you like….not show up?" The man barely finished his sentence before a huge crate slammed next to his head.

"What? Why? I'm the boss, so I should attend important meetings!" The slim creature threw a temper-tantrum as he picked two more crates and threw them away at random.

"No, no, you misunderstand boss, because you're so strong, we want you to be our secret weapon, in case the other side tries to trick us." The man quickly tried to explain to the rampaging boss in hopes of stopping him before he destroys the entire warehouse.

"Really?! You think I'm strong?" Slimy asked with child-like wonder that put off the thug for a moment before he regained his composure and nodded. At that moment, Slimy buffed his chest with pride and made a smirking emoji on his head as the core move even faster in what could be assumed to be excitement, "Of course! The strong me well help you worthless people out, you should rely on me always! HAHAHA!"

'_How the hell is this guy so strong yet so stupid and childish?_' The thug asked himself and curiosity bubbled inside him, "Boss, how old are you?" He asked the question but kept his guard up in case his boss got angry for whatever reason.

"OH! Last time I asked, dad told me I was 25." Slimy answered like it was a simple fact ignoring the shocked expression on the man's face.

**At Edge Shot's agency:**

Edge Shot, Shino, Itsuka, and many other sidekicks were in the meeting room where the hero was explaining the necessary information for the raid they were going on, as well as everyone's roll and position.

"Everyone, please remember your rolls and do not move on your own, police forces will be assisting us in this assault so coordination with them is vital." Edge Shot ended his briefing and everyone started having small conversations, people in the same group trying to synchronize their actions.

Itsuka stood next to Shino, they were both assigned to the assist group that will attack last along with the police, and while Shino wasn't particularly happy about that, he could complain since it made sense to put the people with the least experience in the safest group, and it's not like he wasn't gonna have his share of the fun, he just had to wait a bit longer.

"I can't wait to go on this mission!" Itsuka exclaimed in excitement. Shino on the other hand, was keeping his cool, although he couldn't be more excited than now, he knew that one mistake could end it all, they were fighting villains after all. Glancing at Itsuka, he was glad to see she was wearing the gloves he gave her which eased his worries.

"I know how you feel but you must never lower your guard." Shino instructed Itsuka which seemed to offend her a bit.

"I know that! I'm not an amateur you know!" She said while pouting which didn't happen much often and Shino found it cute, it also told him she was in a very good mood although he wasn't sure for what reason, maybe she is just that excited?

The two were approached by Edge Shot who was checking on all the groups to make sure everyone was mentally ready and wanted to see how his newest recruits were doing. "How are you two doing? I hope you're ready for your first raid." He said standing in front of the due.

"We're doing just fine Master, thank you for asking." Shino replied and Edge Shot nodded in acknowledgement.

"Yeah! We can't wait to bust those villains and ruin their day!" Itsuka added.

"Good to hear, most people get a little nervous when the time finally comes, but as expected of U.A. students, you seem to handle it well. Keep up the good work and I'm sure you'll learn a lot." Edge Shot said before walking away to check on the rest of the groups.

The hour of the raid finally arrived and everyone took their position surrounding the supposedly abandoned warehouse. The scout team moved in first to confirm the numbers and weapons the villains had. Shino and Itsuka were with the police forces waiting for the report.

"There seems to be twenty villains in total, they're in the process of making the deal right now, sixteen have automatic weapons while the other four look unarmed." Shino heard the report through the ear-piece provided to him by Edge shot.

'_Doesn't seem like a big shipment then, which means that even if we found any members of Apotheosis, they'll probably be nothing more than low-ranking fodder. Still, it's better than nothing, and if we can just find the location of their hideout._'

'_**Then what? Get captured again? And spend however left of your life as a prisoner? You're too naïve you know that, this isn't some fairytale where everyone get a happy ending, this is real life.**_**'** Shino promptly ignored the voice that has annoyed him for so long, he didn't need the distraction at this critical moment.

"Scout team, join the vanguard team and get ready to start the assault at my signal. The assist team will join shortly after." Edge Shot's voice came through the ear-piece and both Shino and Itsuka as well as the rest policemen stood at standby waiting to enter.

"NOW!" Edge Shot gave the signal and Shino could hear surprised shouts and gun shots all around the warehouse before starting to hear grunt and sounds of people getting taken down telling him that everything was going smoothly.

"Assist team, move out!" Edge Shot ordered.

Shino created a giant fist while Itsuka enlarged her hand and they both punched a hole in the side of the warehouse big enough for both of them and the police officers to flank the villains from the side catching them off-guard. The police engaged in gun fights with the armed villains providing necessary coverage for the heroes to get close to the villains and take them down.

The fight was over rather quickly with all the villains captured and accounted for. While Shino was placing cuffs of the last pair of villains however, he noticed a strange liquid that was draining through the drainage, the color and look of it sent all sorts of alarms I Shino's head, he definitely saw a similar liquid and if it was the same as the one he remembered, than he might have stroke gold.

Itsuka walked towards Shino after cuffing the last of the villains on her side when she notice him staring at drainage with wide eyes. "Shino? What's wron-" She didn't get to finish her question before Shino quickly broke the drainage and jumped down.

Slimy was running as fast as his legs could get him, "Damn it, damn it, my whole gang got taken down, and I just got them! Who were these scary people? Are these heroes?" Slimy kept talking to himself before a second voice sounded in the huge pipes.

"Found you!"

Slimy turned around just for a hand to grab his face and the liquid started turning to gold. In his panic, he ejected his core before all the slime turned golden, he tried to reach any kind of liquid to form a new body to escape his unknown pursuer, but hand suddenly extended and grabbed him before he could even reach the ground.

"You thought you could escape this easily?" Came the same voice he heard before.

"Who the hell are you? Let me go right now or else! Don't you know who I am?!" The core screamed to be released only for the hand that held him to tighten even more.

"Oh I know who you are, but do you remember me?" The hand loosened a bit allowing the red core to rotate and face his captive.

If Slimy had eyes right now, they would probably be popping out of their sockets in surprise. "It's you! Didn't you die in the attack five years ago?!"

"Looks like you still remember me, good, because I remember everything you people did to me and I've come to get my revenge." Shino was wearing a sadistic smile as his hand once again tightened on the orange-sized core.

"STOP! It hurts! IT HURTS! If you hurt me, my dad will get revenge, and this time, he's not gonna show you any mercy!" The core released screeches of pain that were muffled by Shino's fist as it tightened even more.

"Mercy?! It's I who will show none of you Apotheosis scum no mercy! I'm gonna make you wish you were never born before killing every last one of you! You're gonna tell me everything I need to know or else your suffering will only continue!" Shino threatened and Slimy could feel that he meant business and that his life was really in danger.

"Okay! Okay! I'll tell you everything! Just please stop!" Slimy pleaded for his life and Shino having heard what he wanted to hear stopped butting pressure on him.

"Good, now talk!" Shino ordered the frightened Slimy who was about to spell the beans if it wasn't for Itsuka's voice sounding in the pipes as she got closer.

Shino, fearing that if Slimy was discovered, the heroes would talk him for interrogation and he would lose the chance to return all the pain he suffer at his hand, quickly put the core in one of the deep pockets in his pants. "Don't make a sound or I'll kill you." He ordered than straightened himself before Itsuka arrived.

"What are you doing here Shino?" She asked looking around to see if there's anything that would catch his attention.

"Nothing, I thought one of the villains had escaped through here and had to make sure." Shino made up a story to throw Itsuka of his trail hoping she would look deep into it.

"But all the villains were captured, there is no way anyone could have escaped." Itsuka argued but Shino had a comeback ready.

"I told you, we can't let our guard down, what if there was a villain hiding somewhere and managed to escape in the heat of battle? He would either ambush us or report to his higher-ups neither are good for us. At any rate, I found nothing so either I was imagining things, or whoever they were managed to escape." Shino hoped Itsuka would buy it and seize the questioning.

"You're over-thinking this but fine, Edge Shot want us back, we still need to make the reports." Itsuka said turning back and leading the way with Shino right behind her.

'_**You're not gonna return that scum to the heroes are you? Finally! You're showing your true colors, make him suffer, just like he did to you and probably many more.**_**'** For the first time, Shino didn't argue with the voice or get annoyed by him.

'_Finally, I will get my revenge._'

**Thank you for reading.**


	27. Chapter27

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 27**

Shino sat in his room, the orb that was the core of Slimy and that is his real body placed on the desk in front of him. After coming out of the sewers, Shino received the same questions from Edge Shot as from Itsuka before him, naturally he gave the same answers which seemed to quill the pro hero's concerns and got him and Itsuka off Shino's back. After that, it was just a simple matter of laying low and acting normal until the end of the day and his return to his room so he could take care of his business with one of the people who destroyed his life and tormented him even in his dreams.

However, in his excitement to pay the now powerless Slimy back for everything he did to him, Shino forgot about one problem, a problem he didn't realize until he reached the dorms, how the hell was he supposed to interrogate/torture someone while surrounded by people who would definitely hear everything?

And so here he was, staring down the core that he somehow could tell was terrified and nervous even though it didn't move ever since he placed it there.

"What a mess, I was so excited for this that I didn't actually think it through." Shino said covering his face with his hand. "Now I need to find a secluded place that's also within the school grounds to keep you in, but where?" his mind hovered between many places thinking of one that people didn't visit often enough for it to be usable, his thought were cut off however when the ball in front of him finally spoke.

"Y-You think you'll get away with this? Wait until dad finds out, y-you'll regret ever being born, and I'll take great pleasure in watching suffer." Slimy's voice was shaky and he kept stuttering but his words irritated and angered Shino to no end.

He removed his hand from over his face revealing a cold and piercing glare directed exactly at the now trembling core. '_Screw this! I don't care anymore!_' Shino opened a drawer and brought out a scalpel that he usually uses in his wooding carvings, but now it was gonna carve something else.

"What your dad well do to me?" Shino asked while hovering the carving tool above the core whose trampling doubled. "What else can he do to me that he didn't already do huh?" Shino's voice got a bit louder as his glare intensified, "Watch me suffer? Haven't you done that for years already?" Shino stabbed the scalpel in the desk right next to the core before removing it and letting it hover once more, "Make me wish I was never born? How many times I had wished for that already? No! this time, it's my turn to inflict some damage." With that said, Shino raised his hand holding the scalpel and was about to plunge it into Slimy's core effectively killing him before a knock on the door stopped him.

"Oh for fuck's sake, who is it." Shino said irritated that he was interrupted and quickly put Slimy in a drawer before getting up and heading to opening the door.

Upon opening the door, Shino was met with Sero. "Yes?" Said Shino still visibly irritated.

"Sorry to interrupt man but I heard shouting from your room, is everything alright?" Sero asked as he tried to look through Shino and into the room to check if anything was amiss but Shino stood in his way obstructing his view.

"Yeah everything is fine; I was just watching a movie." Shino reassured his classmate but Sero didn't look convinced.

"Are you sure? It kinda sounded like you."

"Yeah, one of my sibling sent me a movie saying that the lead actor sounded like me and told me to watch it." Shino was getting better and better with coming up with lies on the spot and he wasn't sure if he that's something good or bad.

"Really now? Tell me the name of the movie, maybe we can all watch it sometime." Sero turned from concerned questioning to excited asking for movie recommendations but unfortunately, the movie he was asking for didn't exist, and so Shino had to make up another lie to cover his previous one.

"I don't think that's a good idea, the movie is bad and I was only watching it because of my brother's recommendation. Besides, I would die of embarrassment if everyone watched it." The last part of the sentence caught Sero by surprise and he could help but chuckle a bit.

"You? Embarrassment? I can't even imagine it, but if it's really that bad then I guess you're right, it would be a waste to make everyone watch a bad movie. Anyway, since everything is okay, can you please just lower the volume a bit?"

"Yeah sure, sorry for the annoyance."

"No problem man, take care." With that, Sero left to go to his own room and Shino closed the door.

'_**That went well, now let's kill that Slimy piece of shit!**_**'**

"No, we can't do that." Shino having calmed down from his interaction with Sero just now, remembered why he didn't already kill or torture his hostage.

'_**What? Why? Don't tell me that you're chickening out! Have you forgotten what he did to you for years?**_**'**

"Hell no! I didn't forget anything! But we still need the information he has if we ever want to get the rest of Apotheosis, and we still need to find a remote place to do it since it's clear it can't be done here. That's why…." Shino opened the drawer and grabbed Slimy out placing him once again at the table. You'll tell me everything I need to know, understood?" Shino said maintaining his glare as to scare Slimy into compliance.

"Y-Yeah I'll do whatever you w-want, just don't kill me please!"

"Depends on you." Shino had no intention to spare his life but needed to give him hope so we would be more willing to answer, the carrot and stick. "Now, tell me where Apotheosis's hideout is in."

"I…I don't know." Shino didn't like that answer but had to keep his head calm to not cause another scene and bring unwanted attention.

"What the fuck do you mean you don't know?"

"I-I swear I don't know, all I know is that it's in a big forest and that it took me two days on foot to get to where I met my gang before you captured them all, I swear that's everything."

Shino release a sigh in frustration but had to accept that this was the most he was gonna get about that, and it's not like he got nothing, so he decided to go to the next question. "Fine, what about Volturnus? What's his quirk exactly?" That was another important question Shino wanted to know.

"I don't know that either, father never used his quirk in front of me before." This time Shino could feel a vein pop and had to stand up from the desk and release his anger at his pillow punching it repeatedly until he could calm down.

After he vented all of his anger, Shino returned to the desk where a very terrified Slimy was weighing his options. "So far you've been useless, now give me one reason to keep you alive. If you can't give any useful information then you're life is forfeit."

'_Crap! Crap! Crap! This guy is definitely gonna kill me if I don't give him anything! But if I did and dad finds out, he will punish me severely, what should I do? What should I do?_' Slimy was thankful he didn't have a face at the moment because if he did, Shino would've seen how terrified and panicking he was. He could tell Shino was serious about killing him, but he still feared his father enough to hesitate in giving up any information.

"You're scared of your father Volturnus aren't you." Shino's sentence snapped Slimy out of his thoughts.

"W-What? How did you know?" Slimy was sure he didn't think out loud and Shino couldn't read minds so how did he figure out what he was thinking?

"I told you, I know you very well. You're an entitled, arrogant, and cowardly person that will do anything to survive even abandon his own allies. Now let me ask you this." Shino picked up the Slimy core positioning it tight in front of his face so that Slimy could get a better view of his glare. "Which is worse, Dying or getting some punishment?"

Slimy carefully considered Shino's words, '_He's right, how is dad gonna know that it was me in the first place? And even if he found out that it was me who gave away Apotheosis's information, I can just tell him any lie and he wouldn't punish me that hard. Best part is that if I tell this idiot what he wasn't to know, dad is definitely gonna kick his ass and capture him one more, then I can take my time getting him back for humiliating me like this._' If Slimy had a mouth at the moment, he would be making a creepy wide smile right now. "Fine, you're right. I will tell you what I know."

"Good, now talk." Shino's glare fell a bit giving Slimy some piece off mind and encouraging him to talk. '_This idiot thinks I can't tell what he's thinking, there is now way I will spare him, and I'm not gonna attack the hideout alone, after getting rid of Volturnus and the rest of Apotheosis, I will take my time killing him slowly._'

"What I told about the hideout was truly all I knew, however while I don't know how to get to the hideout exactly, I know the layout like the back of my non-existent hand and can guide you once you reach it." Shino nodded, that was actually pretty convenient. "Also, I can tell how to find other members that may be able to give the information you need." This part had Shino raise his eyebrow in both intrigue and suspicion.

"That's pretty interesting, and how is that exactly." Finally Shino found some good information, but he wasn't a fool to believe every word that Slimy told him, once he learned the method, he was gonna test it first to make sure it was reliable.

"It's actually quite easy, all members of Apotheosis have a special tattoo on their body of an eight-headed snake with the snakes arranged in a circle. Once you find that tattoo, then you've definitely found someone from Apotheosis."

"What kind of fool do take for? The heroes already looked for gang tattoos on everyone they've arrested including the only confirmed member and found nothing like that." Shino was a bit annoyed that Slimy was still trying to trick him after agreeing to come out with what he knew, Slimy however didn't seem flustered which told Shino that there was more to this.

"Of course they find nothing, that's why it's called special tattoo. It was made so it would only appear under specific circumstances that only members of Apotheosis know of." Hearing this, it made sense to Shino, Apotheosis didn't seem to have any community between its members except their quirks, but there had to be a way to members of such a large organization to recognize each other, a way only they knew off, and this tattoo fit that description, of course he was yet to learn how to make the tattoo appear and test it.

"And what are these circumstances exactly?"

"As I said, it's simple, the tattoo is like a heat signal on the body and will appear if you look through some heat vision."

"That's it? Doesn't that feel too easy? How come no one found that out?" Shino was obviously skeptical of this since it sounded like something anyone would accidentally figure out.

"You'd think so but nobody seems to actually think about that possibility." Shino wasn't entirely convinced but it didn't hurt to test out, and if it didn't work, it's not like Slimy's going anywhere anytime soon.

"Fine then, we'll test this tomorrow, but if turns out to be a lie…" Shino left the end of that sentence empty because he knew Slimy could figure out the rest.

"Understood." Once again Slimy didn't sound afraid, meaning either he was that confident his lie wouldn't be found out, or he was telling the truth, but Shino would have to wait until tomorrow to find out. Thankfully, he knew just where to get his hands on a heat vision goggles.

The next day, Shino hurried to the support department workshop where he knew a curtain pink-haired mad inventor probably resided. Reaching his destination, he quickly opened the door only to receive a rocket punch out of nowhere sending him to the other side of the corridor.

"Shit! It flew outside!" Came a voice he knew very well, "Who the idiot that opened the door at such a crucial moment!" Hatsume came peaked her head out of the poorly lit room in search of her invention to find Shino standing up while clutching his face in pain. "Hey there Shino! Didn't know you liked to sleep on the ground these days, personally I can relate. by the way, did you by any chance see a white mechanical arm with thrusters anywhere around?" Just as she finished her sentence she noticed said arm laying on the ground where Shino was standing, "Hey! There it is!" She quickly walked up and picked her beloved baby completely not questioning the boy standing next to her.

Shino had a lot of things to say to Hatsume at that moment, but he didn't have time to chat so he went straight to the point. "Hey Hatsume, can I borrow one of your babies?"

Hatsume looked at Shino with a raised eyebrow, "What happened to your face? Did someone punch you or something?"

Shino held the urge to go on a tangent that it was her baby that caught him off-guard when most villains didn't. "Never mind that, can I borrow your heat vision goggles for while? I return them soon."

Hatsume thought it over for a minute, "Yeah sure, I don't usually just hand out my babies but you're a loyal customer and I'm sure you're gonna take care of my baby." Hatsume then walked back into the workshop with Shino tailing behind. "Say did you give Your girlfriend the present we made?" Hatsume asked as she looked in her messy boxes for the baby Shino wanted.

"Yeah, she loved it and says thank you." Shino informed her and without seeing her face he could just picture the huge smile she must be wearing right now.

"Of course she would love it! As expected- Found it!" Hatsume's sentence was interrupted by herself when she came out of the box holding a big pair of goggles before handing it to Shino. "Don't forget to tell everyone that this was made by the one and only Mei Hatsume!"

"Yeah sure, don't worry." '_Why do I feel like she only gave it to me as a chance to promote her inventions? Doesn't matter anyway, I got what I needed, let's catch us some Apotheosis scum!_' With his objective complete, Shino walked away after bidding farewell to Hatsume.

After walking enough distance and making sure no one was around, Shino brought out the Slimy core he had in his pocket. "You people are weird." Was the first thing he said.

"That's none of your business, now let's see that tattoo you talked about." Shino wore the goggles and looked at Slimy once again. To his surprise, there was indeed a pattern of heat signals on one of the sides of the core that looked like a punch snakes, of course Shino wasn't gonna believe that just from this one time, but it meant Slimy's words had more grounds to stand on now, all Shino had to do was try it on some of the villains that Edge Shot had captured to see if any of them had the same heat signal.

Shino didn't want to waste time waiting for trains and decided to take matters into his own hand, so after messaging Itsuka to tell her to not wait for him, he headed to Edge Shot's agency to tell his master of his findings.

"You didn't tell them about me but you're gonna tell them about this?! Didn't want to take revenge on Apotheosis?" Slimy was trying to persuade Shino from revealing this information since that throws his plans out the window.

"Of course, I'm not stupid to think that I can take an entire division of an organization like Apotheosis all on my own." Shino said with a smirk knowing that he just destroyed the bastard's plans. Slimy didn't like that smirk.

Reaching the agency, Shino quickly changed into his hero costume, and entered before making his way to Edge Shot's office. Shino knocked on the door before entering the office, he found the hero at his desk going over some files probably related to the raid they did the other day. Edge Shot raised his head from the papers he had in his hands and was surprised to find Shino. "Yes Shino? Shouldn't you be writing your report? I hope you're no slacking now." Shino remembered that yes, he needed to write a report of his actions and the incident in general but there was no time for that now, it however provided the perfect Segway to tell his superior of his findings.

"Yes master, but in the process of writing the report I read the case files once again and found something interesting." Edge Shot raised an eyebrow intrigued by what would make Shino come to him this early.

"And what would that be?" Edge Shot asked and Shino took a deep breath; he had to make this as believable as possible without letting it slip where he really got the information.

"Well you see master; the files say that you've tried every possible way to find a common mark common between the members of Apotheosis, but every method proved either unreliable or inconsistent."

Edge Shot nodded in acknowledgement, "Yes that's true, what about it?"

"Reading the signs you've searched for, I noticed that there was a sign you didn't look into." Edge Shot's eyes widened as he racked his head trying to think if he missed something to no avail.

"And what is that sign?" He asked now completely focused on Shino's statement.

"I believe it's called a thermal tattoo or heat tattoo, something of that sort. I read before that it's simply a just like a normal tattoo, except instead for a drawing on the skin, it's a heat signal with unique shape that can only be seen using heat vision." Edge Shot was at a loss of words, was such a thing really possible?

"Are you sure of this Shino?" Edge Shot asked still finding it hard to believe.

"Yes master, of course I don't know if Apotheosis is using such a thing, but I think it worth a try." Shino was internally praying for Edge Shot to believe him as the hero took a thoughtful expression as he considered the possibility.

Shino's prayers were finally answered when Edge Shot decided that at this point, they had nothing to lose from trying. "Shino you're coming with me, we're going to the prison to test this theory of yours." Edge Shot said as he grabbed some files and walked to the door.

"Yes master." Shino said as he followed the pro hero happy that his plans worked. Slimy on the other hand wasn't happy it all since this meant that he just led an army to their hideout, '_This is gonna be hard to explain to dad._'

As Shino and Edge Shot walked to the exit they met Itsuka who seemed to have just changed into her hero costume, "Good timing Kendo, you're coming with us too." Edge Shot said as he walked passed the girl.

"Coming with you? Where?" Itsuka asked confused.

"To prison." Shino answered her as he too walked past her following Edge Shot.

"What? Why?" Itsuka asked.

"No time to explain just come." Shino came back and grabbed her by the hand dragging her along.

Entering the prison, the trio were met by the head guard who led them to where all the villains where kept waiting to be examined, Edge Shot had already contacted the prison on their way to tell them to prepare everything while Shino brought Itsuka up to speed.

Shino, Itsuka and Edge Shot, entered a room with a one-way seeing glass as villains where let in on the other side. Shino wore the goggles and started scanning them. "Do you see anything?" Itsuka asked, this was the third group to be scanned.

"No nothing from this group either." Shino sadly informed them.

"This mean that either they're not members of Apotheosis, of this method is also a dead end." Edge Shot stated as he signaled for the guard to let these guys out and bring the next group, morals weren't the highest as that moment, but Shino didn't lose hope just yet.

"Found it!" Shino exclaimed as soon as the forth group entered and both Itsuka and Edge Shot came to his side to check.

"Are you sure?" Edge Shot asked.

"Yes, look for yourself. It's the third guy from the left." Shino said as he handed the goggles to Edge Shot who quickly wore them and looked to the guy Shino pointed to, almost immediately he noticed the strange pattern in the heat signal on his shoulder.

"It's true." Edge Shot said happiness clear in his voice. "But one success is not enough, we need to test on the rest of them to make sure since we're still not sure they use this."

After examining all villains that they had captured since the start of the investigation, they managed to find seven people that not only had a strange heat signal, but also showed the same pattern. "This is wonderful, with this we can interrogate them all together and if they are truly members of Apotheosis, then we not only found seven members but also a reliable way to find any future members we catch."

"How did you know about this thing Shino? This is the first time I hear about it." Itsuka asked Shino wanting to quill her curiosity.

"I read about it in an article, being home most of the time, it was how I spent my time.

"Well you did an amazing job Shino. Now excuse me I need to start this investigation as soon as possible." Edge Shot said before leaving the room.

"Great job Shino, this is like you solved the case all by yourself." Itsuka slapped Shino on the back to congratulate him.

"That's not true and you know it." Shino replied.

'_**Can we call the little ball of shit now please?**_**'**

'_Don't be impatient, his turn is coming, all the gears are in motion now and soon, Apotheosis will be in ruin._'

**Thank you for reading.**


	28. Chapter28

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**A/N: This chapter was beta read by Narharcan so thank him for the help. **

**In addition, I feel it's important to inform all of you that with this chapter, we have entered the end game of this story.**

**Chapter 28**

After the breakthrough that Shino provided to the heroes, all that was left was pin-pointing all the members of Apotheosis and investigating them individually, to find everything they could, of course it was important to mix some other villains in the mix to not reveal that the heroes have figured out about the thermal tattoo. It has been a couple of days since Shino "discovered" the thermal tattoo and the investigation getting a huge boost both in moral and intensity as the heroes used every interrogation method in the book to put pressure on the villains in hopes of finding a weak link that would easily break.

At the moment, both Shino and Itsuka were sitting at a conference hall located in the top floor of the Edge Shot agency along with several of his sidekicks.

"Did you hear? It looks like we finally found some new lead in the Apotheosis case." Shino could hear some of the sidekicks murmuring between each other.

"Yeah, maybe master called us here to tell us about some good news? God knows this investigation has been leading nowhere for a while now and catching Apotheosis didn't seem any closer."

"I know what you mean, reading the files made my blood boil, I can't wait to through them all to jail for what they've done." Shino was glad the other were also excited to face against Apotheosis but kept wondering if what they said was true, could Edge Shot and the other heroes have finally found out about Apotheosis's hideout, it made sense that this would be the case but there was still no guarantee.

"Hey, what do think master Edge Shot wants to tell us?" Itsuka asked Shino.

"Well, considering we're in the conference room used only when talking about missions, I think the others might be right, we might be getting some good news soon." Shino answered while his gaze was still fixed on the door of the room. '_Hopefully they found something useful, Slimy didn't give me any other useful information, this might be my final chance._'

As if his thoughts summoned him, the door opened as Edge Shot entered the room along with Nightclaw who was carrying a big stack of papers. The two stood in front of everyone before Edge Shot pressed on a switch prompting a projector to descend from the ceiling and start working projecting a bird-eye view of a vast forest with high-intermingled trees that hid whatever was beneath it and that also seemed to be bordering on a city.

"As you all probably know by now, we have managed to figure out a way to distinguish the members of Apotheosis, which was all thanks to our newest recruit, Shino." Edge Shot pointed at Shino and everyone turned to look where pointed, they were first surprised that he was only a high school student but soon started clapping and cheering for him. While Shino wasn't exactly looking for recognition, he could help but feel pride, Itsuka showed her own brand of congratulating by slapping Shino's back, something he's come to find endearing. "And thanks to the collaboration of the other heroes, we managed to interrogate these vile villains until some of them finally cracked under the pressure and revealed the location Apotheosis's hideout." No one spoke a word, all focused on their superior's every word, chief among them was Shino who leaned closer on his seat.

"According to multiple testimonies from said villains, Apotheosis's base of operation is an underground maze-like dungeon located in the Onderon forest Shown here." Edge Shot pointed at the projection as Nightclaw handed out papers to all everyone.

'_Onderon forest huh? It does match what Slimy told me, so I guess he wasn't lying after all. Not that it matters much._'

"What Nightclaw just handed all of you is all the information we managed to gather about the forest, Apotheosis's hideout and numbers, make sure to read it carefully because we need to move to the most important matters." Everyone looked up from the paper they were reading to hear what else Edge Shot had to say. "We have coordinated with the other hero agency to come up with a plan of attack on Apotheosis's hideout. According to the that plan, we're gonna act as the vanguard, attacking first to get the villains' attention and open a path to the others to proceed. while this is the most exciting part and I'm sure that some of want to make a name for themselves, it's also the most dangerous, so once again I implore you all to read the information carefully and make sure you're physically fit, the attack will be two days from today so train hard." Everyone nodded in acknowledgement and with that, the meeting was over.

Because of the upcoming mission, Shino and Itsuka were allowed to return to the school to make their own preparations.

"Two days huh? Looks like this case will be over sooner than I thought." Itsuka said, her and Shino had just exited the train and were walking on their way back to the dorms.

"Yeah, I guess our timing was good in joining Edge Shot's agency, or else we might have missed such a big investigation." Shino said, but they both knew it wasn't a simple matter of good timing.

"It's not like they would've solved without you to point out that thermal tattoo thing."

"You're giving me more credit then I deserve, all I did was suggest a method that I noticed they didn't use. It wasn't that big of a deal."

"This so called not-big-deal was the key in solving the investigation, and thanks to it, we'll finally have a chance to get rid of Apotheosis not only now but even if they return in the future, so you shouldn't sell yourself short." Itsuka cheered for Shino. By that time, they had reached the school and were about to part ways.

"Chill, all of this will be over in two days." Itsuka said those words thoughtlessly as she parted ways with Shino, but for him, they made realize something that he kept at the back of his head for a while. A realization that left him standing with a blank face for a couple of seconds.

'_It all will be over._' This thought kept swirling in Shino's head as he laid on his bed staring at the ceiling.

"I don't want it to be over like this." Shino said to no one.

'_**What are you talking about? **__**Was**__**n't this what we wanted, we'll finally get revenge on Apotheosis for everything they've done, and then everything will be over.**_**'**

"That's not what I'm talking about, whatever happens in the upcoming attack, whether we finally destroy Apotheosis or get defeated, these two days are my last days here at U.A., and the last days I will be able to spend with my friends. I don't want our last memory together to be like this, with me cooped in my room isolated from everyone."

'_**Wasn't it your choice to do that with the excuse of protecting them?**_**'**

"Yes, but that was when we still had nothing on Apotheosis and they could have stroke again, I had to keep my distance from the others. But now that it came this far, there is no point in that."

'_**How absurd! You of all people should know that these memories will only hurt all of you more when you're gone. Are you planning on hurting them more than you already did?**_**'**

"Of course not!" Shino exclaimed before looking down at the ground with shaking fists, "But I want to feel the way I did before all of this, for one last time, is that too much to ask for?"

'_**I've warned you, you do not deserve happiness, and you know that.**_**'**

"I know, but I still want to do it. Think of it as an apology to them for all the trouble I caused." Shino said with a sad smile.

A rumbling sound came from Shino's desk so he made his way there unlocking one of the drawers before opening it and bringing out Slimy who was imprisoned there.

"Why are you making so much noise?" Shino questioned his little prisoner.

"I told you everything right? Thanks to me, you found where Apotheosis's hideout is; now let me go like you promised." Shino held himself from laughing at how audacious this demand was.

"First of all, I promised you nothing. Secondly, there is no way I'm letting you go now when we're so close to taking down Apotheosis, you might warn them of our attack."

"I would never do that! I swear if you let me go, I'll hide-" Slimy was cut off when Shino squeezed him and continued his talk.

"And lastly, who said you've told me everything, you said you know everything about the hideout, so I'll have you guide me during the attack, and don't think about deceiving me, your life is literary in my hands." Shino finished in a threatening tone.

'_Damn it! This bastard thinks he can use me as some kind of GBS! But it doesn't matter, if I get him to dad, he will surely crush him in no time, then I will have my revenge._' Was what Slimy thought as he shook in fear in Shino's hand.

"F-Fine, but you have to release me after that! You hear!" Slimy exclaimed trying to sound tough but his stuttering betrayed him.

"We'll see about that." Shino answered dismissively before shoving Slimy back in the drawer and closing it.

Shino returned to his bed and brought out the papers he received earlier that day, "I need to finish studying these if I want to spend the day with the others."

The next day was the weekend, the students of class 1-A woke up early at 6AM on a sweet and alluring smell that spread throughout the dorms and that they didn't smell in long time, precisely since they left their families, the smell of home-cooked meals. Each of them came out of their rooms to inspect the source of that smell.

"Is that what I think it is?" Kaminari asked as he, Kirishima and Sero met as met in at the stairs. Bakugo was also tailing behind but was now in front of the three as they stopped to talk.

"I'm smelling bacon! It smells too good that it's making me cry manly tears!" Kirishima exclaimed as he rubbed his eyes.

"But who's cooking now?" Kaminari asked, it was a legitimate question since none of the students could cook to save their lives relying on cereal as their main source of nutrients need in the morning, the closest was Sato, but he was a baker rather than a cook, and definitely couldn't cook food that smelled so good.

"There is only one person in this class that can do it." Sero said and both Kaminari and Kirishima understood whom he was referring to right away, Bakugo just tsked continuing to walk down the stairs.

"You don't mean…" They both said in unison.

Sero nodded while crossing his arms, "Well there is only one way to find out!" With that, the three resumed their sprint down the stairs catching up to Bakugo and meeting the rest of the boys who too were in their way to the common room where the smell seemed to originate from.

On the girls' side of things, it wasn't much different as Ashido and Hagakure sprinted down the stairs while the rest of the girls walked in a big group.

"What could this exquisite smell come from?" Yaoyorozu asked as she took a deep breath trying to identify what that smell that woke her up from her sleep could be.

The other girls looked at their friend with raised eyebrows, "You don't know what bacon and eggs are?" Jiro was the one to ask.

"This is bacon?! I have only heard about it but never thought I would actually see it!" Yaoyorozu said with eyes full of stars and child-like wonder and the other girls couldn't help but smile at their usually composed friend talking about bacon as if it was some legend.

"Then I suggest we hurry before Ashido gets there or we might not get anything, ribbit." Tsu informed the other and they picked up the pace towards the common room.

Everybody gathered to behold the sight of the dining table where twenty-one plates where placed, each plate had two pieces of bacon with a well-done egg, beside every plat was an empty glass and in the center was four flagons with coffee, milk, orange juice, and water respectively arranged in a circle, in the middle of that circle was pile of different kinds of fruits from apples to oranges to bananas. From the kitchen came whistling as a new smell entered the scene that of baked goods, everybody would've suspected Sato once more if he wasn't standing next to them and just as surprised by what he was seeing.

Finally, the culprit came out as Shino walked out of the kitchen holding a plate with still-steaming donuts with him only to meet the surprised and confused gazes of his friends. He looked at them for a moment a bit surprised by their expressions.

"Uh…Good morning?" He said while making a small wave with his free hand not gaining much of a reaction.

"Shino…What's all of this?" Jiro was the first to snap out of her daze.

"Breakfast." Shino simply answered before walking to the table and placing a donut at every plate then sitting down. "Are you people gonna keep staring or are you gonna join me?" This snapped the rest of the class as they scrambled to each sit at the table and start eating.

"Man! This bacon is the best! It's even better than what my mom makes!" Kaminari exclaimed as he shoved another mouthful of food before chugging an entire glass of milk.

"And the consistency of the egg is only matched by its taste!" Uraraka added.

"The donuts are also fluffy and sweat with very good ratios." Sato said taking another bite of his donut.

"I'm glad everyone is enjoying the food; don't hold back, there are second if anyone wants more. However, keep in mind that too much food in the morning can be detrimental to your overall health. Also, please eat more fruits." Shino instructed his friends with a genuine smile. Seeing them eat the food he made gave him a warm feeling in his chest, it reminded him of his days in the orphanage watching over his siblings.

"Indeed, what we have here is the perfect breakfast to start a productive day with. As expected of the vise-president of our class, taking care of the student health and well-being." Iida exclaimed with a proud smile as he patted Shino on the shoulder.

"But what brought upon this change in attitude? You've been trapped in your room ever since we moved here, what changed?" Jiro asked while twirling her ear jacks around her finger.

"Nothing really, you could say that I'm in a good mood right now that's all." Shino answered before taking a sip of his coffee.

"If you being in a good mood means we get to eat this kind of food, then please be in a good mood every day." Mina said while Hagakure waved her hands in agreement, "Yeah that would be awesome!"

"Is food the only thing you two are concerned with? ribbit" Tsu's comment stroke the two girls were to hurt causing the two of them to shrink down in their seats as everyone laughed at their expense.

"But how did you make all of this Shino?" Yaoyorozu asked curious, "I'm no expert but this looks like it would take a lot of time and effort."

"It was no problem really; I used to do as much if not more every day back in my home." Shino answered to everyone's surprise.

"Wow! That sounds hard." Sero commented gaining nods of approval from the others.

"We're glad you're okay now Shino." Todoroki spoke for everybody as they all smiled at Shino but their smiles seemed a little forced.

"Y-Yeah, we were starting to really worry you know." Midoriya added.

"Thanks guys, but since I was in my room for so long, I don't know how you've been, how is the working program coming along?" Shino asked wanting to check how his friends have been faring so far.

"Oh! Oh! I wanna tell him!" Ashido waved her hand excited as she jumped in her seat. "Kirishima here has made it big on social media, the video of him fight some villain a few days ago was a major hit!" She said while pointing at the boy of the hour who in turn was blushing and rubbing the back of his head.

"Come on Mina! You're exaggerating here; Fatgum and Amajiki were there and did most of the work." Kirishima tried to dissuade

"On the contrary Kirishima." Shino interrupted, "Being on the news is a big deal for us who are still on the start of the road and trying to make a name for ourselves. You should be proud of what you've accomplished; looks like you'll the first of us to strike it big." Shino words made Kirishima blush even harder as now everyone joined in complementing him.

"Of course shitty hair would make it big!" Bakugo interrupted the conversation, "But just you wait I will be the one to make it the biggest you hear! Just as soon as I get my license!"

"Of course Bakugo, with a quirk like your quirk, you are sure to make your mark wherever you decide to go." Shino's calm and supportive response to the explosive teen's declaration surprised the others including Bakugo who just looked at him for a moment before sitting down and continuing his meal. This however confirmed a suspicion many of the students had since the beginning, they could tell that something was wrong with Shino but none of them commented on it not wanting to ruin the mood their friend worked hard to make.

"Oh yeah! Me and Tsu also have some news too!" Uraraka exclaimed and everyone was thankful for her continuing the conversation. "We're with Ryukyu and Hado, just yesterday we took down this huge villain, it was like this big." Uraraka stood up and raised her hands trying to give her friends an idea of her opponent. "We did this combined attack between all of us."

"That must've been cool as hell Uraraka, Tsu. Combined attacks are something I think we should all work on." Shino suggested and the idea seemed to appeal to the others.

"That's a great idea Shino, such a training would great enhance our teamwork. We must be sure to mention it Mr. Aizawa the next chance we get." Iida said while glancing at Shino to gauge his reaction.

"It might also allow us to discover new things about our quirks." Midoriya said excited about the many entries he could write, he could even start a completely new sub-series of journals just for that.

"Well, we'll see about that later." Shino said as he stood up and started to collect plates to be cleaned.

This gave the others a chance to finally discuss what's been on all of their minds, "What's wrong with him?" Jiro started, "He said he was in a good mood but people don't just bounce off being depressed like that."

"I know what you mean." Kirishima also showed his concern for the golden-haired boy, "And look at all of this food he worked hard on out of nowhere, to me it looks like someone apologizing or trying to make up for something."

"But what would Shino have to apologize for?" Shoji asked the one million question as Koda nodded next to him.

Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida, and Tsu looked at each other with worry, they might have had an idea of what was happening, they weren't sure whether it would be a good idea to tell the rest of the class or not. In the end they decided against it remembering what Itsuka had told them that if Shino were to find out they spied on him, he won't take to it kindly, and that would destroy their chances of helping him.

"Alright everyone, since Shino seems to want spend the day with us, we'll give him what he wants, all the while we'll have to monitor him for any clue as to what he's thinking exactly." Iida instructed the rest of his class and they all nodded in agreement.

Shino in the kitchen was having his own dilemma, spending time with his friends reminded him of how good it felt to be surrounded by people you care for after all the time he spent alone, this in turn started to chip away at his resolve to go on with his plans.

'_**What the hell do you think you imagining? Did you forget everything we sacrificed to get to this point?**_**' **The voice reminded Shino that he was too far gone for this line of thinking to come up now. **'**_**Don't forget about the prisoner you have stashed in your desk, what do plan to do with him then, release him and forget about all of this? Remember that you're doing with for them, o make up for what you've done.**_**'**

'_You're right, it's too late for me now. All I can do is ensure that they will be safe from Apotheosis's influence in the future._' Shino regained what resolve he had lost and made up his mind abo the future.

Midoriya entered the kitchen, "Need a hand?" He said as he stood next to Shino, grabbed a plate, and started cleaning it.

"That would be appreciated." Shino answered splitting the mountain of plates and placing it in front of Midoriya, while doing so, Shino noticed the troubled look in Midoriya's eyes, he didn't have it at the table but it was similar to how he looked during the sports festival.

"So, what's on your mind?" Shino asked casually still focused on the plates in his hand.

"I-It's not much, don't worry about it." Midoriya answered a bit flustered that Shino knew he was troubled but not wanting to bother him when he had his own problems to worry about, but Shino was having none of it.

"Do I have to pry the information out of you again? Or are gonna just spill the beans on your own?" Shino asked and Midoriya knew there was no getting out of it.

"Well…" Midoriya fidgeted a bit not sure how to explain it without giving away any details, "What do you do if you fail to save someone, how do you deal with such a thing?"

Shino could see the pain in Midoriya's eyes, '_You're truly a kind soul Midoriya._' Was what he thought as he decided on what he should say to cheer his friend up, it was clear he wasn't gonna tell him the details but Shino didn't mind. "Looks like you had it ruff recently Midoriya. But let me tell you this, you should know that no one can save everyone, not even All-Might." Midoriya lowered his head, put his hands to his sides, and gritted his teeth in frustration.

"I know."

"But…" Midoriya looked up and towards Shino was looking back with smile. "A true hero is not one that can reach everybody; a true hero is the one that once he reaches someone will never let go until they're saved." Shino patted Midoriya on the shoulder, "Don't worry, I know you will save everyone you can reach no matter what."

This seemed to do the trick as Midoriya smiled brightly and nodded "Yes! I'll do my best!" he was happy to receive support from his friend but for some reason he had this lingering sense of dreed that he couldn't quite explain.

"But right now what you need to do is finish washing these plates." Shino said pointing at the still big mountain of dishes left for them to do.

After finishing the dishes, Shino got out of the kitchen to find that everyone was now scattered around the common room doing their own thing.

"Hey Shino!" Ashido called out to him as she Hagakure, Yaoyurozu, and Jiro were sitting on the couch and watching TV. "Come see this!" She said as point to the screen that was showing some series the girls seemed to be into. Upon closer inspection, Shino recognized the show as one of those romcoms Mother always watched.

"Oh! I recognize this! Mother always watches." Ashido saw this as an opportunity to get Shino to talk about himself more in hopes of finding what's bothering him.

"Your mother has wonderful taste; I would love to meet her one day to talk." Shino seemed happy with the compliment but his smile was tainted with sadness as he looked at the ground.

"Yeah she's a wonderful lady, always supportive and caring; she could be a bit violent but it's always out of love and worry. I don't know what I would've done without her." Shino's lips quivered as Mother's last words to him returned to him mind and he was actively trying not to shed tears in front of the others, something was clear to the group.

"Don't worry Shino, if you miss her, you should visit her sometime." Jiro tried to cheer him up.

"Yeah, that would be nice." Shino knew he wouldn't be able to do so, but he appreciated the girl's attempt.

The five of them continued to watch the show in silence, which lasted an hour or so. After the episode was over a second group, Kirishima, Ojiro, and Sato wanting to have a sparring match with him without the use of quirks, approached Shino. While he found it weird, Shino didn't complain since it was his original plan to begin with.

The sparring matches were done in a rotation with the winner taking on challengers until he is defeated and so on. Shino managed to defeat all there of his classmates thanks to his extensive training in martial arts but it was very tiring for him as well to take on fight after fight. In the end, the four of them were either on their knees or just on the ground breathing heavily and their bodies covered in sweat.

"That was some manly training!" Kirishima exclaimed with a strained voice from exhaustion.

"Yeah, but Shino seriously, how do you know all of these moves man? You're style kept changing that it was hard to predict." Ojiro asked Shino.

"I had multiple teachers each with a different way of fighting, so I picked up from all of them." Shino explained.

"That incredible! To be able to mix different style so well, I'm glad you're making the most out of your experience." Ojiro said with admiration.

"It's not that big of a deal really, anyone would be able to do this with a bit of training." Shino waved Ojiro's compliments off not wanting to draw too much attention to himself.

"Still, I would love to spar with you again in the future, maybe we could even ask Kendo to join us." Ojiro suggested.

"Count me in! I always up to some manly training!" Kirishima joined in.

Shino looked away from the pair and his lips arced downwards, not that they could see, "Yeah I would love that." He quickly composed himself before turning back to the group, "Listen guys, after all this exercise I'll need a shower, so catch you later." He said before walking towards the door leaving the two who looked at each other with concern for their classmate.

"Shino wait!" Sato called out to Shino as he was walking to the dorms.

"Yes Sato?"

"Say, could you give me the recipe for the donuts you made today? I would really love to make some later." Shino smiled at this request.

"Of course no problem. After I take a shower, meet me at the common room and I'll write it down for you."

"Thanks man! I owe you."

"Don't mention, what are friends for if not helping each other." With that Shino and Sato parted ways as Shino returned to his room.

After taking his shower, Shino met up with Sato as promised to give him the recipe. "Since you wanted the recipe, I thought you would like other recipes too." Shino said as he gave Sato and notebook with the word "Recipes written over it.

"Are you sure you want to give me all of this?" Sato asked feeling a bit uncomfortable taking all of this when he asked for just one. "Won't you need them later?"

"Don't worry about it, I already memorized them. I only keep this around for emergencies and you're a better baker than me so I'm sure you'll make much more use out of these." Shino explained with a strained smile.

While Sato was still hesitant, he decided to accept his friend's goodwill, "Thanks, this really means a lot coming from you."

"Glad to help." Shino waved Sato goodbye and went on his way wanting to spend time with the others of his class.

Shino found himself next helping Tokoyami clean his sword that he didn't even know he had, the bird-headed boy had asked him for assistance since he knew Shino had more steady hands than him and in return Shino had gifted him with figure of a ninja clad in black stealth armor which Tokoyami was surprised by but greatly appreciated.

After being pestered by Mineta multiple times asking how to get a girlfriend which Shino found annoying, he asked Koda to hide in his room for a while since the purple menace had enough decency to not barge into people's rooms. Koda kindly agreed and this was the first time that Shino was introduced to Koda's pet rabbit who almost bit Shino thinking he was an intruder. Thankfully and much to Koda's surprise and delight , the two grew on each other to the point where the white rodent would comfortably sleep in Shino's lap giving him the chance to pet him which was oddly calming and was becoming one of Shino favorite activities.

Shino tried to approach Bakugo but the teen only shot his attempts down saying that he only cares about their rematch to decide which of them was stronger, but a serious match with Bakugo was not something Shino wanted to do and so he declined once again, much to Bakugo's chagrin.

Lastly, Shino made sure to spend some time with Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida, Tsu, and Todoroki, his closest friends. They mostly discussed their experiences working again under pro heroes while Todoroki told them stories of what Gang Orca was having him and Bakugo do during their remedial lessons.

"You know we should organize some activity for the entire class once Todoroki and Bakugo get their license." Uraraka suggested.

"That a great idea Uraraka, it could be our way to celebrate everyone having got their license." Midoriya seemed on-board with the idea.

"This will require planning and a lot of free time so it won't be that easy." Iida had to be the realist of the group. "What do you think Shino?" Everyone turned to the boy in question.

"Well I think it's worth a shot, when it comes free time you have plenty of time on the weekends, the real problem is finding a place that would fit twenty people." Everyone raised their eyebrows at that.

"Don't you mean twenty-one Shino? Ribbit" Tsu pointed out Shino's slip-up and he quickly tried to cover it up.

"I wasn't counting Mineta. I mean do you really want to be seen in public with him?"

"That's not too nice of you to say him, sure his behavior is repulsive but he is still one of our classmates." Iida scolded Shino who couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that in doing so, Iida had insulted the boy too.

"Let's keep that on the chopping table and start thinking about it when me and Bakugo actually get the licenses, how about that?" Todoroki said and everyone seemed to agree to it.

"Good idea Todoroki, there is no use worrying about the inevitable." Midoriya said and the words stuck with Shino as he thought them over.

'_He's right, if something is inevitable will happen no matter what, that what they call fate, and I know mine._'

After talking about many other things the group parted ways as each headed to their rooms, but before Uraraka climbed the stairs to the girls section Shino called out to her.

"Uraraka! Can I speak with for a sec?"

"Yeah Shino? How can I help you?" She answered a bit curious what could he ask of her.

"It's not me who needs help." This only made Uraraka more curious. "It's Midoriya, he seems to have something on his mind that he can't talk about, so I thought you might be able to help him."

"Why me? You can ask Iida or Todoroki the same thing?"

"We both know why." Shino said with smirk and Uraraka's cheeks suddenly were colored red.

"Jeez is this way you called out to me? Just to tease?" She asked flustered but Shino expression turned serious and it made her a bit anxious.

"I am serious Uraraka, I did what I could but he needs someone to be by his side to support him, you know how easily he can doubt himself at times.

Uraraka nodded, "I'll…I'll see what I can do." Shino smiled at this but Uraraka had this feeling that she was receiving someone's will and it didn't sit well with her.

"Thanks Uraraka, I knew I can depend on you." With that Shino walked away to his own room leaving a Uraraka that was now concerned with two of her friends.

Shino laid on his bed thinking about everything he did. While it felt like everyone was acting weird and seemed to always have an eye on him, he enjoyed his time with them and hoped they did too, it saddened him that he won't be able to do this anymore, but that's what have to be done, it was his fate after all.

There was still one thing left he wanted to do, something that he was gonna dedicate the next day and his last day at U.A. for. He brought out his phone and dialed the number, after a few rings, the other side picked up.

"Hey Shino, what's up? You haven't called in a while, is everything alright?" Itsuka's voice sounded from the phone and Shino was happy that she was still awake.

"Hey Itsuka, yeah everything is fine, just wanted to check on you. How is you're preparations for the upcoming mission?" Shino asked and Itsuka could feel something was off, he sounded happy but for some reason she felt there was more to it like it.

"I'm having trouble with layout of the forest but everything else is fine." Itsuka informed Shino.

"Great! I pretty much memorized everything, how about we meet up somewhere tomorrow and discuss this in detail?" Shino suggested and though he couldn't see it, Itsuka raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Is this your way of asking me out on a date?"

"You could call it that, you still owe me a meal though, so you'll be paying." Shino said jokingly and Itsuka was now even more surprised.

"Yeah sure, a bet is a bet. Let's meet tomorrow at four then."

"Deal" With that they both hung up and started preparing for the upcoming day, Shino wanted to make this a memorable day and he had just the place for that, he just had to wait for tomorrow to show it to Itsuka.

**Thanks for reading.**


	29. Chapter29

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 29**

The next day rolled along and like the day before it, Shino prepared breakfast for the entire class, this time they didn't give him any weird looks like yesterday which Shino found relieving, he then did some training before showering and getting dressed for his outing with Itsuka, she too was getting ready when she received a call, looking at the caller, she found it was Midoriya which was weird since the green-haired boy never called before since they exchanged number, unless he had something important to tell.

Itsuka answered the phone, "Hey Midoriya; what makes call me at this time?" She asked curious.

"Hello Kendo, I'm sorry to call you unexpectedly, I hope I'm not interrupting you during something important. I just wanted to ask you a couple of things about Shino if you don't mind." This peeked Itsuka's interest even more as she remembered how strange Shino's behavior was when he called her.

"Don't worry Midoriya you're not interrupting anything important, ask away."

"Thanks Kendo, now I wanted to ask if anything of note happened with Edge Shot and the Apotheosis investigation."

"Well I can't tell you much since it's still an on-going investigation, but we did make a break-through just recently thank to Shino, hopefully it might end soon." Itsuka heard other voices besides Midoriya's, "Is there someone with you Midoriya?"

"Oh! Yeah the others are listening in with me, is there a problem?" Midoriya asked a bit flustered that he might have missed up.

"No, not at all, I just heard voices and wanted to check." Midoriya sighed in relief but suddenly his voice was a cut off and she could hear some strange noises.

"Midoriya? Are you still there? What's happening?" Itsuka kept asking until the noises stopped and a different voice came through.

"Hello Kendo this is Iida, I'm sorry but we're running out of time, there is another thing we need to ask you. Did Shino display any weird or unusual behavior recently?"

Itsuka thought it through and only one incident came to mind, "Well I'm not sure what you're expecting but when we applied to Edge Shot's agency, we had to do a test along with other applicants, Shino was his now-usual gloomy and irritating self and I made I bet with him on who would finish the test first. He seemed to cheer up a little, but after I finished my turn, I looked over to him and he looked terrified, like he's seen a ghost or something. When I asked him about it, he said he just remembered something bad but wouldn't tell me what it was exactly."

"Hmm I see, it's not what we wanted but it's something to consider." Now Itsuka's curiosity couldn't be contained.

"What's with these questions? Did something happen that I don't know of?"

"It's just that yesterday Shino made breakfast for everyone and seemed to be in very high spirits all of a sudden, not only that but he also seemed keen on spending time with everyone, this sudden change in attitude made everyone worry so we wanted to see if something happened on your end."

'_Could be related to the attack tomorrow?_' Itsuka couldn't help but think.

"Does any of this ring a bell for you Kendo?" Iida sounded again through the phone.

"He did ask me out all of a sudden yesterday even though we'll be busy tomorrow, and seemed enthusiastic about it too." Itsuka answered.

"Then I would ask of to keep an eye on him, see if anything is bothering him, if anyone can do it, it's you."

"You don't have to even ask, this was my plan from the beginning, I will inform you if anything note-worthy happens." Itsuka informed Iida.

"Good, we'll be counting on you Kendo." Iida gave his goodbyes before hanging up and leaving Itsuka to her own thoughts.

'_Just what is going on inside you head Shino?_' Itsuka thought as she returned to the pile of clothes left on her bed.

At the designated time, Shino and Itsuka me at the gates. They both wore more casual clothes compared to their first date with Shino wearing a simple t-shirt and baggy pants while Itsuka wore jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. They were both close enough to not care about what the other wore.

"So where are we going?" Itsuka asked and Shino smirked.

"You'll see." Was all he gave her and she eyed him with suspicion.

"What are you planning?" She questioned him with narrowed eyes.

"Don't worry about it, there is this new place I know of that I'm sure will be to your liking." Shino wasn't really trying to hide it.

"It better be since I'm the one paying." She said with crossed arms.

They could've taken the train, but Shino insisted they walk their way there saying that it wasn't that far and it would be a waste to take the train. In actuality, Shino just wanted to walk around the city with Itsuka one last time.

After a bit walking, they finally reached their destination, and to say Itsuka was surprised would've been an understatement. The place Shino had taken Itsuka to looked like the dinners she would see in western movies, specifically the ones located on desert roads where bikers would hang out, at the front it had many motorbikes of different shapes and sizes parked in a straight row.

Entering the place, Itsuka was more shocked by how faithful to the source material they were, the place had a bar where different drinks were served like alcoholic drinks for the adult costumers or just sodas for the underage, on all the walls of the place were either photos of different biker gangs or parts of various motorcycles from entire engines to just the handles. The restaurant specialized in American food with their primary attraction being the jumbo-sized burgers and the hot dogs. Unlike most restaurant, this one didn't have servers, you place an order at the counter and after it was finished you could go to a table next to it where different condiments and toppings were offered to customize your meal.

"How did you even find this place?" Itsuka asked with shock still on her face.

"Saw it on one of my deliveries, immediately thought you would love it, I'm glad I got a chance to show you the place." Shino answered with a sad smile, it sounded like might not be able to come here again, Itsuka didn't like the sound of that and quickly shoved the idea out of her mind. "Anyway let's find a table to sit at, or we'll have to eat standing." They quickly fumbled their way through the people and found a small table for the two of them.

Looking at the menu, they both chose meals on the lighter side of things not wanting to overdo it on their first visit. After Shino submitted their orders at the counter and returned to the table, they started talking.

"I wonder what brought this along." Itsuka asked hiding her worries that were increasing since Midoriya called her.

"What? I can't ask my girlfriend out on a date?" Shino countered sounding really offended but Itsuka could tell he was enjoying it a bit.

"You've never done it before so you can't blame me for asking."

"You of all people should know that a lot of things happened and I wasn't in the best of moods." Itsuka nodded, she indeed knew, even more than Shino thought she did.

"Relax, I'm glad that you did asking me out, it's nice to spend time together."

Shino lowered his head and wore a sad smile on his face, "Yeah, it's nice."

"Is everything alright Shino?" Itsuka's question made Shino raise his head and his sad smile disappeared replace by a cheerful one.

"Yeah, I'm better than ever!" Shino exclaimed as he made a showing of his muscles that made Itsuka chuckle.

'_That's right everything is fine, this is no time to be sad, I have to make this day worth remembering for her._' Shino told himself as he sat back down, what he didn't know was that behind Itsuka's chuckling, she was getting more and more worried.

'_Something is definitely wrong here, he looks cheerful but it all sounds forced like he's trying to lie to himself and tell himself everything is fine._' She could tell that Shino's smile was a fake one. '_And from time to time he would get this sad smile on his face, he know something is not right and is trying to hide it._' This was the conclusion Itsuka arrived at.

"How have you been Itsuka? I haven't been out much so I must have missed a lot."

"Where do I even begin…" Itsuka told Shino about how her days went, her special move training which she refused to disclose the details of, the license exam and how her class dealt with the U.A. massacring tradition which admittedly they handled better than his class, the intense training Vlad King put them through, and many of her dealing with her classmates, all the while Shino barely talked, Itsuka too while humoring him, always took note of any change in his expressions. From time to time, she would notice the same sad smile on his face and him trying to hide it every time she asked.

The one-sided conversation was cut off when their order numbers were called out and they went to receive their meals and drinks then went to the table to add some extras.

'_**Having a fun time are we?**_**'**

'_What do you want now?_'

'_**Nothing, just making sure you don't have a change of heart after your little outing.**_**'**

'_Don't worry, I won't. This is all for their sake after all, and it's my fate in the end and I have accepted that._'

'_**Glad we're on the same page, but I'll still be watching you just in case.**_**'**

'_Do whatever you want, just don't disturb me again._'

After Shino and Itsuka returned to their table, Shino tried steer the conversation to make Itsuka talk about motorcycles knowing that she could do so for days, but she wasn't gonna play along anymore.

"You've been silent this whole time, why don't you talk a bit more, like about your license exam, how did two of your best student fail?" Itsuka could tell Shino wasn't amused by this but had no choice.

"Nothing special happened really, many of us left the group before the exam even began so I don't know how they managed but I was lucky that a group idiots thought that they could surprise attack me. In the end, the hunters became the hunted and I was the second person to pass the first half of the exam, the others passed afterwards." Shino said dismissively.

"That's impressive." Itsuka said.

"Not really, the second was a bit hard since we couldn't tell what we were judged on clearly, but I managed somehow." Shino talked vaguely about that stage not wanting to remember his little panic episode which the examiners definitely saw.

"Yeah I hear you, I almost lost when villains suddenly launched an attack out of nowhere." Itsuka recalled her own experience.

"Bakugo and Todoroki both lost because of that stage. It doesn't matter anymore, we passed and that's what's important and now we're working for one of the top heroes in the country." Shino said while raising his cup.

"Yeah!" Itsuka too raised her cup.

After talking some more, the two exited the restaurant and made their way back to the school walking slowly. "Man I'm beat, and we didn't even talk about tomorrow's mission, and that was our original purpose." Itsuka said while stretching her arms to the sky.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure Edge Shot will do quick briefing before the mission, and if you need anything, I'll always be here." Shino reassured Itsuka with a smile she hasn't seen in a long time, the smile that told her everything was gonna be okay.

"Shino, can I ask you a question?" Itsuka asked while fiddling her finger.

"Sure, ask away."

"Aren't you scared of what could happen tomorrow?" This question made the due stop and stare at each other, while Itsuka was worried about Shino, it wasn't her only worry, it could be said that she was covering these worries by focusing on him, but they couldn't be contained any longer. "I know it's not your first time fighting real villains but it's mine and I can't help the anxious feeling I'm having, what if something goes wrong? What if I miss up something and ruin the entire mission because of a rookie mistake? What if-" Itsuka was cut off when Shino held her hand tightly.

"Nothing is gonna go wrong, I won't let anything go wrong. You should believe in yourself more Itsuka, if Edge Shot thought you weren't up to the mission he wouldn't have assigned you in the first place, this shows he believes in you just like I do. As for the fear, I too am afraid, and I'm sure we're not the only ones too, I'm sure some of the sidekicks are just as nervous about this as we are, but it's our duty to fight to protect those who can't fight for themselves." Shino told Itsuka with a bit of anger which caught her off-guard for a bit but she could feel he wasn't angry at her but for her, he didn't want to see her doubting herself.

"You're right, this is no time to second guess myself. I have to move forward with solid conviction!" Itsuka exclaimed.

"That's the spirit! I might not be there to cheer you up, but know that I always believe in you." While this made Itsuka happy, the way he said it made her heart ache, it sounded like he wouldn't be there anymore.

"Why are you talking like you know you won't be there? And even yesterday you've been acting like it's the end of the world or something, what's going on here." Itsuka asked and Shino was a bit surprised before looking away which didn't help Itsuka's feelings.

"I see you talked with the others. It's just that I wanted to spend some time with you guys before the mission, to make up for all the time I spent alone in my room."

"What are you talking about?! You can spend time with us even after the mission too, and that still doesn't explain the sadness I keep seeing in your eyes."

Shino released a sigh and looked back at Itsuka, "I'm just tired I guess, it's been hard on me and I wanted release some stress before the mission." It was Itsuka's turn to hold Shino's hand.

"I know you've been working hard as of late, but you don't have keep it bottled down inside you, I always have your back, okay."

Shino smiled at that, "Thanks Itsuka, we both should do our best tomorrow, and get this finally behind our backs." Shino lied to Itsuka, it was the only way to ease her worries, but he knew, that after tomorrow, there was no going back.

"Yeah!" Itsuka exclaimed, but deep down her uneasiness was going away, she ignored it thinking that she was just anxious but it was still there.

They continued their walk towards the school in complete silence only saying their goodbyes when parting away to each go to their dorm. They had to be fully rested after all, for tomorrow the destined battle will begin.

Shino sat on his bed before look to his side to see the photo holder with the pictures of both of his families in it. Picking the holder, Shino held it close to his heart and allowed a single tear to escape his eyes as he fell asleep with the holder still with him.

**Thank you for reading.**


	30. Chapter30

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**Chapter 30**

It was a beautiful day outside, birds were singing, flowers were blooming, it was the best day to for a criminal organization to burn in hell. With that thought in mind, the heroes arrived at the edges of Onderon forest to begin their long-awaited attack on the Apotheosis hideout.

Shino and Itsuka stood with the rest of the sidekicks as Edge Shot stood in front of them all facing the dreaded forest.

**Flashback:**

Everyone gathered in a big meeting room, all the hero agencies and police force involved in the investigation were present for the final briefing just before the attack.

"As discussed before, our enemy is taking advantage of the high trees of the Onderon forest to conceal themselves from above and we can't get any accurate locations on their troops or the entrance to their hideout." Said the chief of police as the forest's image flashed on the wall.

"However, this can also work in our favor, Edge Shot and his team will use the high trees to sneak beyond the enemy's defenses and disable the alarms and detecting devices spread throughout the forest using the devices our support team prepared. These devices will disable the alarms without triggering their fail switches, meaning that they won't register that we're here until it's too late." Shino looked at the device Edge Shot had given him a few minutes ago then at Itsuka and the rest of his team who all had similar devices. His attention was drawn back to the chief when he resumed speaking.

"Their second mission is locating the entrance to Apotheosis's hideout, out intel says that it's supposed to look like a rocky cave, and once a certain mechanism is activated, the ground would open up revealing the hideout. We don't know the precise location of the cave but it should be in the eastern part of the forest. In the meantime, Kamui Woods' team will take care of the enemies probably patrolling the forest. After the entrance is found, all teams will converge there and the assault unit will enter while the back-up unit will be stationed at the entrance both to capture any fleeing enemy and to assist the assault unit in case things go south." Everyone nodded acknowledging their roles in the plan.

"Now that the plan is clear to everyone, we must discuss what will happen after we infiltrate the hideout…"

**End of flashback.**

Shino returned from memory lane and looked ahead at the forest that would become the battlefield for the final battle with Apotheosis. Edge Shot turned around to face his subordinates.

"Okay guys, we'll split up here. Everyone go with your unit to your entry point. All units will enter at the same time and coordinate with one another so keep communications steady. Remember, a lot of people are counting on us to do our job properly, not just our fellow heroes, but many innocent civilians too. So be diligent and don't do anything rash. Move out!" Edge Shot's team split into three smaller units. Just when Shino was about to join his unit, a fist was extended to him. Looking at the owner, he saw Itsuka with a confident smile.

"I guess we'll see each other soon, good luck." They had been placed in different units and as such wouldn't meet until the entrance was found and all teams converged there.

Shino looked at the fist for a second before extending his own to pump it, "Yeah good luck to you too, let's show them who's boss." With that, the two went their separate ways as the units moved to their respective entry points waiting for Edge Shot's signal.

Shino's unit consisted of himself and three others of Edge Shot's sidekicks and their entry point was in the northern side of the forest. At the signal of Edge Shot, they all rushed through the forest using the branches of the trees as stepping ground to traverse without drawing notice to them. After moving a bit further into the forest, they stood on a branch that was wide enough for all them.

"All right guys." Said the leader of the unit as he brought out a map of the forest with many cross marks over it. "We already know the location of the detecting devices, but there is a possibility that the guys we interrogated didn't tell us everything, so keep an eye out for any hidden alarms." Everyone nodded at that. "Now let us move to the first alarm then."

The group resumed their advance reaching the alarm, a security camera that looked way out of place in a forest. They attached the device that was given to them to the camera; the device started making a weird noise for a couple of seconds before quieting down.

"Was that it? Did it work?" Asked one of them.

"I'm…not really sure." Answered the leader while rubbing the back of his head, which didn't really didn't help the situation. "It should've worked."

"Don't we have a way to check, it would be bad if it turned out it didn't work and the enemy catches wind of our attack." The feeling of uneasiness was getting to the unit members.

Shino went to the edge of the branch and broke it before turning it to gold in his hands; this caught the others' attention.

"What are you doing Shino?" The closest one to Shino said as he approached him.

Shino turned around to face his teammates; his palms were closed on each other, "According to our information, these cameras have a motion sensor and will track any moving object that comes in its line of sight." Shino opened his hands revealing a tiny golden bird. "I thought we could test it using this, if our device worked, then the camera should follow it, and if it didn't, then a small bird shouldn't look out of place in a forest and won't arouse suspicion."

"Good idea Shino." The leader complimented.

Shino controlled the small bird making it mimic a real bird's behavior before making it move towards the camera. Everyone was getting antsy as the bird came closer hoping the camera won't move since this would make a big hole in their plans if it didn't work.

All their worries vanished however when the bird passed in front of the camera not one time but multiple times without it reacting in any way.

"Thank god, the device is working, I almost got thought thing will go south from the beginning."

"Now that I think about it, if the device didn't work, the other units would've reported something right." The leader said and the other looked at each other before chuckling at the situation they put themselves in with overthinking.

"Well, it doesn't matter, but we wasted time with this so let's pick up the pace." The group travelled deeper in the forest from one camera to the other disabling each of them.

Next was a motion-detecting laser field at ground level that meant that they had to get down in order to deactivate, which meant they risked being seen if any patrols came around. And indeed, just when they were about to descend, a patrol of four people were just passing by. Thankfully, the team managed to return to high ground without being detected, but now they were stuck there unable to make a move or the patrol would catch wind of their presence.

"I say we take these small fry out and continue with our mission." Said one of the sidekicks while standing up and slamming his fists together causing them to emit a feint yellow light.

The leader raised his hands signaling him to stop, "Don't, this is not part of our mission, we shouldn't do any unnecessary."

"Why shouldn't we? There are four of them and four of us, and we have the element of surprise on our side, we can totally take care of these bastards." The sidekick with the glowing fists argued gritting his teeth but still composed enough not to raise his voice.

"Remember what master Edge Shot said, we can't do anything rash or we risk sabotaging the mission and endangering not only the other heroes and policemen, but many civilians too." Shino intervened siding with the leader, but although he said that, he wanted more than anyone else to take them down but he wasn't going to risk it on such insignificant ants.

"I guess you've got a point there." The glow on the guy's fists started to dissipate until it completely vanished and he sat back down.

"I say we just report their location and direction so that Kamui Woods' team can take care of them." The other member of the unit suggested.

"Yeah, I think that's the best course of action right now. Let's just wait until they walk away far enough, I'll report it while you guys disable the lasers." The leader gave out the orders.

After the patrol were out of sight, Shino and the other two came down with the devices and attached them to each side of the lasers at the same time and let them do their work while the leader contacted Kamui Woods and made his report. After everyone was finished, they started moving to their next target. However, as they were making their way there, Shino noticed something weird and quickly drew the unit's attention to it.

"Hey the tree we passed just now looked weird, didn't it?" The group once again stopped.

"What are you talking about?" The leader asked Shino.

"The tree we just passed, it looked different from the others, it looked fake." The others looked at each other and nodded agreeing to check it out.

Backtracking to the tree Shino talked of; although it wasn't noticeable in first looks, it indeed looked fake compared to the other trees around it, more mechanical.

"Is this a trap we weren't informed of?" Asked one of the team members worried of what this might entail.

"It could be, but we passed by it and it didn't activate so it might be connected to the alarms we disabled, or it could be a trap that's activated manually." Said the leader as he examined the tree.

"In any case, let's use the device on it just to be safe, and report it to the others so they would watch out for more of these." Shino said as he approached the tree and attached the device which started making noises like usual.

The second the noise stopped, the trunk of the tree opened up startling the group who all stepped back and took defensive stances in preparation of what come out, however, nothing happened.

Shino and the others approached the tree once again very cautiously and were shocked at what they found. Inside the trunk were spider-like robots all arranged in rows, they didn't look activated, probably due to the device having disabled the trap.

"Holy shit! What are all these?" Shouted the group leader as he stepped back once again.

"I don't know, but they look like bad news. Thankfully, our device seems to work on them, but we can't let our guard down just yet. Let's just report this to the other units and Kamui Woods and keep an eye out for similar trees." Shino suggested and the leader released a sigh of relief and calmed himself down.

"You're right, let's do that and move already." He said cringing a bit when his eyes met the mechanic creatures again.

One of the other members leaned at Shino and whispered in his ears, "He has severe phobia of spiders, just the word can make him cringe so hard." Shino raised an eyebrow in surprise while the other chuckled quietly.

The team closed the tree back up and made their report before heading to the last dew of their targets. By the time they had only two alarms left, they had found five more of the mechanical trees with the same robots stationed inside, much to the leader's dismay. Other units have already finished their tasks and also reported finding other trees and disabling them.

It was when Shino's unit was disabling the last of the alarms in their section that an important report came up.

"This is unit 3 reporting, we finished our task and disabled all alarms, and we think we found the hideout entrance, it matches the description we received, I have sent the coordinates, but we still haven't found the mechanism to open it." The location was indeed in the northern parts of the forest and was surprisingly close to the city, most likely to make it easy for the members to exit and enter the city, Shino thought this over, '_Wait, unit 3? That's Itsuka's unit isn't it? Way to go Itsuka!_'

"Roger that. Unit 3 remain in place but hide your presence in case enemy patrol that weren't taken down by Kamui Woods' team yet come to you or new patrols come out, report any irregularity right away. The rest of the units focus on finishing you tasks then go to unit 3's location, again don't do anything rash."

"This unit 2, we're at our last target, once we finish it we'll join up with unit 3 right away." The leader of Shino's unit spoke.

"Good, unit 2 move with utmost caution and join unit 3, we'll be with you shortly." Edge Shot gave the command.

"Understood, we'll do." The leader than looked down to see that the other two had already finished disabling the alarm.

"And that's the last of them!" exclaimed one of them as they climbed back the tree.

"Good job everyone, now let's move to join with unit 3." Everyone move as fast as they could without making any loud noises and after a few minutes of jumping around from tree to tree, which now that Shino had time to think about it, was pretty fun, they arrive at the location unit 2 was stationed at.

They found the unit atop one of the trees overlooking what must've been the entrance and landed on the tree opposite to them.

"Unit 2 you're here!" Said the leader of unit 3 in excitement.

"Yeah, any new developments?" Asked the leader of unit 2.

"Nothing important, a new patrol came out from there not long ago so we know for a fact this is the entrance and already reported to Edge Shot and Kamui Woods. However, we still don't know how to open it from the outside yet, and it automatically closes after the entire troop is out so most likely a camera or sensor at the entrance that will detect us as soon as we enter." The leader of unit 3 gave them the latest update.

"I guess we'll have to wait for the others to arrive before we can make a move huh. Hopefully, they finish up soon." The leader of unit 2 said a bit discouraged, but there was noting that could be done about it.

Itsuka sat next to Shino, "Good job finding this place, we just to open the door and the hard part will be over." Shino said still looking at the tunnel.

"How is this the hard part? We still haven't even entered the hideout yet." Itsuka said pointing at the entrance.

"Well since it a surprise attack it, they won't have the time to organize themselves and will easy to take down, and also we took most of their defenses down and many of their members."

"You've got a point there; let's just hope everything goes smoothly."

After waiting for a bit more both the remaining of Edge Shot's team and Kamui Wood's team finally arrived at the designated location. A group was then sent to search for the opening mechanism, naturally, Shino volunteered for the role, having already searched once, Itsuka decided to stay with the main force.

Entering the tunnel, it was very dark, so much so that without the light coming for beginning Shino wouldn't be able to see his hands in front of his face, luckily they had flashlights with them to help them see. He made sure he was far enough from the others and brought out Slimy who was kept hidden in his pocket the entire time.

"What took you this long?! Your pocket are crammed and uncomfortable!" Slimy immediately started complaining but quickly stopped when Shino applied some pressure.

"I want a simple and precise answer, how do I open the entrance to the hideout?" Shino asked trying to sound threatening.

"I-It's a rock at the beginning of the tunnel, rotate it three times and the door will open." Slimy gave Shino the desired answer. "Don't forget yo-" Before he could continue, he was shoved back in the pocket as Shino made his way to the beginning of the tunnel.

Using his flashlight, Shino examined the walls of the tunnel locking for any rock that could be moved until he finally found it at the right side at the very beginning of the tunnel, very easy to miss if you didn't know it was there.

"Found it!" Shino exclaimed drawing the attention of not only the people in the tunnel but the others outside too.

Everyone gathered around Shino trying to see what he found, "Did you find a way to open the door?" Edge Shot appeared next to Shino.

"I think so master! While examining the wall, I noticed a rock that seemed to bulge out and when I tried to move it, it rotated instead." Shino gave a convincing explanation before starting to rotate the rock three times just as Slimy had told him. With the third spin, the ground started to part ways as a new passage downwards was revealed.

Everyone would've started celebrating if Edge Shot and Kamui Woods didn't take hold of the situation and organized the forces. Since both the assault team and the back-up team were decided in advance, no time was wasted as the assault team charged forward.

What the heroes didn't know was that they were indeed being watched and monitored by Apotheosis. As Minotaur was standing in the observation room overlooking the preparations they had made.

"Status report!" Exclaimed one of the underling gaining Minotaur's attention, "The enemy has reached the designated area, permission to active the interceptors."

"Permission granted, let's see how these foolish heroes who dared step in our territory deal with this." Minotaur grinned with anticipation.

The heroes had been walking around in what seemed like a straight line for a while when Edge Shot ordered everyone to stop. Kamui Woods moved from the end of the group to Edge Shot, "Why did we stop? Is there something wrong?"

"Don't you feel this is a little strange? We've been walking for a while but encountered nothing. I know we took down a number of them before coming but still this is unusual."

"Now that I think about it, you're right." Kamui Woods said while pinching his chin try to think of the meaning of this. "But where could they have gone?" They didn't have to wonder for long as the noise of metal hitting against concrete started coming from up ahead.

"What is that noise? It's driving me crazy!" Said the leader of Shino unit, he would soon regret ever asking as the source of the noise came closer revealing itself to be a swarm of mechanical spiders just like the ones they saw in the forest. "Spiders! Why did it have to be spiders?!" He screamed as everyone else got into fighting positions.

"Hold your ground! Don't fall back!" Edge Shot shouted.

The fight ensued as the heroes were overwhelmed with the deadly robots' numbers, but that was the least of their worries.

Shino was turning spider to gold left and right not wanting to waste his stamina this early on, that when he noticed some of the tiles of the walls slightly moving. Suddenly, the walls and the ground started opening up and swallowing people breaking the group up. Shino himself was caught in of them when a spider tried pinning him to the wall, only for it to turn and swallow them both.

Back with Minotaur, he was laughing his ass off watching the heroes scramble not knowing where the next attack might come from. "Good! Good! We even managed to separate Shinohara from the group, make sure to give him a good beating but don't kill him, he's of use to the boss." Minotaur said before making his way out of the room. "It's my turn to have some fun with what's left of those pathetic creatures."

Shino found himself in a small closed room with no visible exit, he had already disposed of the spider that led him to this room and was about to examine the wall when multiple hatches opened up and more of the same spiders started popping out.

"You think this is gonna stop me? How stupid do you think I am?" Shino quickly ran to the wall he came through destroying any robot that came in his way.

Reaching the wall he quickly turned it to gold, opened a passageway back to where he came from, and closed it behind him before any of the robots could follow. However, when he looked around, he only found nothing but destroyed robot spider parts and no sign of the other heroes.

"I guess they moved after destroying the robots, or they were caught in another trap." Now Shino was starting to worry. "It seemed like this was planned, so they must be watching us somehow." Shino looked at the ceiling and the wall but couldn't see any camera or sensor. "If I could find the control room then I could turn all the traps off." Shino brought out Slimy once again. "Tell me where the control room, fast."

"Fine, fine, let me see where we are." The ball rotated around a couple of times. "Okay I know where to go, follow me."

After the assault of the mechanical spiders was finally over, only a small number of heroes was still together, Itsuka was lucky not to be caught and was still with Edge Shot and some of the other heroes.

"We underestimated our enemies, and because of this, we suffered heavy losses. Damn it!" Edge Shot sounded his frustration.

"It can't be helped now master, we just have to push through if we want to defeat Apotheosis and save our friends. And we need you to focus to lead us." Nightclaw tried calming his superior.

"You're right Nightclaw, we can't falter now that we've come so far." Edge Shot regain his confidence again, but the moment was interrupted when everyone noticed a white gas starting coming their way.

"What is this gas?" One of the sidekicks asked freaking out.

Edge Shot quickly realized what this was and quickly put a gas mask before turning to the others. "Everyone! Put your masks on immediately!" He shouted but only Itsuka and Nightclaw put their masks fast enough before the gas took effect.

People started freaking out some were screaming with horror widening their eyes, some started frantically running around, and some just passed out from fear.

"Damn it! The fear gases effect are too fast!" Nightclaw exclaimed.

"We have to take down the source to stop this!" Itsuka said.

"But where is he?" Edge Shot asked and he didn't have to wait long to find that out as someone's laughter started echoing through the place and a figure approached through the white smoke.

"Look at them, so weak and pathetic. And you call yourselves heroes!" Minotaur said as he walked to the trio towering over them and holding a giant battle axe in his right hand.

"He's one of Apotheosis's top members! You two take care of the others and leave him to me!" Edge Shot gave the order to Itsuka and Nightclaw and they followed without a word in response.

"You think your puny-ass can take me on yourself? Why don't I show you just how weak you people are!" Minotaur exclaimed as he swung his axe at Edge Shot but the later quickly thinned his body avoiding the attack and went to counter-attack. However, when he collided with Minotaur's skin, it was so hard that he couldn't penetrate it only bouncing off and leaving no scratch.

"HA! Is this the best you could do?!" Minotaur once again tried to swing his axe but it didn't even get close to Edge Shot. In response, Minotaur charged at Edge Shot but only slammed into the wall and breaking it apart. "Stop dodging and let me smash you already!" Minotaur shouted enraged, he then noticed the other heroes knocked-out, Itsuka and Nightclaw who were trying to calm the still conscious ones down and a devilish smirk was drawn on Minotaur's face.

After getting his horns out of the wall, Minotaur ignored Edge Shot and turned his attention to Itsuka charging at her with full speed while laughing manically thinking that he caught the weak member.

"Kendo watch out!" Edge Shot shout as he thinned his body and launched himself to try to catch up to Minotaur but the acceleration of the raging beast was already in full swing.

However, a surprise was waiting for him when Itsuka turned around with her fists already enlarged and blocked Minotaur's charge thanks to the metal plates in her gloves and stopping him in his tracks just after a few meters.

"No way!" Minotaur shouted in disbelief.

"Yes way!" Itsuka shouted back as she literally grabbed the bull by the horns and slammed him at the ceiling then releasing him to allow his body to fall down only to deliver a punch to his face sending flying back.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem to do much damage as Minotaur got up with no problem other than a sore jaw. "I've gotta admit, that was surprising. But your lucky-shot didn't do shit to me, and you won't get another one." Minotaur said while cracking his neck.

"We'll see about that." Itsuka said taking a fighting stance as the two stared down one another.

Taking advantage of their opponent being distracted, both Edge Shot and Nightclaw jumped Minotaur with Edge Shot thinning himself and Nightcalw emitting a dark aura around his claw weapon that soon took the form of an even longer and sharper claw. They both slashed at Minotaur's chest, but it was to no avail, as the tough skin seemed to resist still.

"Scram you worms!" Minotaur shouted swinging his axe at the two causing them to jump back to Itsuka's side taking stances of their own.

"That's all you insects can do, gather together thinking it makes you stronger, but in reality, it just makes you easier to kill." Minotaur slammed his foot down, "With one foot." His insults didn't seem to affect the heroes at all as they kept their eyes fixed on him waiting for him to make his move.

Getting irritated with this stare down, Minotaur charged again at them roaring. Edge Shot and Nightclaw jumped to the side while Itsuka stood her ground.

"Let's see how you block this!" Minotaur shouted as he swung his axe at Itsuka only for her grab hold of his arm and using her legs and his momentum, trip him causing him to fall to the ground before she twisted his arm forcing him to let go of his axe in order to try to catch her but she jumped back out of his reach.

"You bitch! How dare you!" He shouted in rage as he stood back up, "I'm going to break every bone in your body!"

"I doubt you'll get the chance." Itsuka said calmly. In his rage, Minotaur had completely forgotten about Edge Shot and Nightclaw who once again jumped at him slashing at his chest multiple times before he could try to swat them away.

"I told you! Your weak attacks can't scratch my iron-tuff skin!" He exclaimed while slamming his hand on his chest.

"I wouldn't be sure about that." Edge Shot said before pointing at Minotaur's chest.

The villain in turn looked at his hand only to find something he never thought he'd ever see, blood, his blood. His eyes moved quickly to chest to find a small bleeding cut; the cut was so small it was comparable to a paper cut.

However, Minotaur knew, Itsuka knew, Nightclaw knew, and Edge Shot knew, that this cut was more than enough for the top five hero to make his through Minotaur's hard skin and to his vulnerable inner organs.

Minotaur slowly raised his head and for the first time his heart knew fear of someone else aside form Volturnus, and the heroes could see it on his face. Without any word, Edge shot rushed at the now panicking Minotaur.

"Stay away from me! Don't get close I tell you!" Minotaur kept swinging one of his hand trying to keep the hero away while using the other hand to cover his injury.

All that proved futile as Edge Shot made his way past Minotaur's wild swings and his hand entering his body. "Get out! Get out!" Minotaur screamed as he scratched at his chest trying to force Edge shot out of his body. His unsightly resistance stopped shortly after as his eyes rolled back and he fell down face first on the ground.

After that, Edge shot got out walking away from his defeated enemy, "Good job you two, let's take care of our comrades before proceeding. The gas is disappearing so they should wake up shortly."

"Yes master!" Itsuka and Nightclaw answered. As they moved back to where the unconscious heroes were Itsuka looked back at the road they'll have to walk.

'_I hope Shino is alright._'

Speaking of Shino, he had just made his way to the control room. "This should be it." Said Slimy as they approached the door. "Good thing I know how to avoid the hidden cameras huh." Slimy tried to brag but Shino completely ignored him.

'_Ignoring me you bastard huh? Just wait until dad get his hand on you._'

Shino burst through the door catch everyone in the room by surprise and quickly taking them out before they had time to fight back. He then noticed monitors that showed some of his comrades still fighting for their lives.

He went up to the monitor grabbing on of the still conscious and dragged him along. "How do I turn this off and get them out?" Shino questioned his hostage.

"And why should I tell you anything?" The goon glared at Shino challenging him to do something. Shino responded in kind by slamming the man's face into the ground.

"That's why! Now tell me how I stop it before I make you face look like your ass more than it already does!" Shino threatened and the man seemed more willing but still hesitant to comply.

Having no time to waste, Shino slammed the man's face in the ground two more times, which seemed to do the trick. Reluctantly, he sat on in front of monitor and after pressing a few keys; Shino could see the rooms where his comrades were trapped in open up and them getting out mostly fine, it relieved Shino that he didn't see Itsuka in any of those monitors which meant that she wasn't captured.

"Thanks." Shino said before striking the man neck from behind knocking him out.

Shino was walking to the exit to start his search for Volturnus's room to finish this when another monitor caught his attention. Getting closer, Shino's eyes widened in horror at what he saw. People, innocent civilians of different age groups and genders, all wearing ragged clothes and looking worse for ware, and all behind bars.

Slimy noticed this and informed Shino of what he was looking at. "Those are the workers, we bring them in to do all the heavy lifting for us, they should all be in their cells right now but-" Slimy's explanation was cut off when Shino spoke one word.

"Where?" He asked through gritted teeth.

"Huh?" Slimy asked back not fully understanding Shino's question.

"Where are they kept?" Shino reiterated his question visibly angry.

"They are kept not that far from here, but they're way out of the way to dad's chamber."

"I don't care, just show me the way to them right now."

"Sure whatever." With that Shino made his way to the workers' chamber as fast as possible.

'_**What do you think you're doing?**_**'** The voice questioned Shino.

'_What does it look like I'm doing? I'm gonna save those people!_'

'_**This has nothing to do with us; we came here to get our revenge. Leave the saving to the real heroes and start looking for Volturnus.**_**'**

'_No way! The heroes don't even know these people are here, and who knows what could happen by the time they find out. I'm saving them and that's final!_'

'_**Grrrr, whatever! Just don't forget why your still here.**_**' **The voice said clearly dissatisfied.

As he Shino made his way toward where the people were being kept, he encountered some of Apotheosis's remaining members but made quick work of them. However, he stopped when an old face showed to stop his advance.

"Long time so see Shinohara." Medusa greeted with venom in her tongue, both literally and figuratively. Shino one the other hand remained silent and unmoving.

"What? Did the cat eat your tongue? Or are you just frozen in fear?" Medusa asked mockingly but Shino still would answer or move.

Slimy, thinking he found a chance to escape jumped out Shino's pocket. "Medusa! Thank god you're here to finally save me from this bastard!" he exclaimed as he rolled his way towards her.

"Young master! So this is where you were!" Medusa looked the state Slimy was in then looked back at Shino. "You're gonna pay for what you did to the young master!" Medusa sneered at Shino.

'_Take that! I don't even have for dad to come; Medusa is more than enough to destroy you._' Slimy thought as he rolled to Medusa.

However, when he finally reached her, he looked up only to see a golden blade stab into her stomach. "What?" Slimy asked still not comprehending what he was seeing.

"It hurts! How dare you injure me you worthless creature!" Medusa riled in pain the snakes on her head clearly distraught and flailing wildly.

"It hurt huh?" Shino finally spoke before rush at the distracted Medusa and cutting all of her snakes before they could lung at him causing Medusa even more pain. "This is what my mother felt when you stabbed her." Shino looked directly into Medusa's eyes and all she could see was darkness, overwhelming darkness that made her tremble to her core.

"Now to make you feel the same way all those people back then felt." Shino knelt down and grabbed hold of Medusa's tail with his bare hands.

Slowly, Medusa's lower body was turning to gold and she lost all feeling in it. "Stop! Stop! Please I don't wanna die! I can't feel my tail! I-mmmff mffff" She kept on begging for her life until Shino placed a plate over her mouth to stop her screaming.

"When they begged for you scum to stop you didn't, so why should I? But don't worry, I'm not gonna give you an easy death." Shino removed his hand when the gold had reached the start of Medusa's human part. "Now you'll forever live like a cripple, unable to even raise your head." With that Shino picked up a terrified Slimy and stepped over Medusa's unmoving body and went on his way to rescue the workers.

'_He defeated Medusa so easily! Am I gonna be next? Can dad really stop him?_' Slimy was now aware of how deep he had fallen.

Reaching the door, Shino broke it down and found himself face to face with multiple cages where the workers were placed. The whole scene disgusted Shino to his core, this wasn't the first time he saw this, but it wasn't on this scale. He quickly ran to one of the cells hoping he wasn't too late.

"Is anyone still alive in there?" He asked and almost immediately all head turned in his direction with widened eyes full of a mix of fear curiosity.

"Who are you young man?" An elderly man stepped up to talk to Shino.

"My name is Shino; I'm here with the heroes. We've come take down Apotheosis and save you all." Shino told everyone with a smile.

Murmuring started to spread between the prisoners some regaining hope while others still skeptical, those were the ones that spent more time locked here than the others.

"Are you telling the truth young man? Are the heroes really here to get out of this hell?" The old man asked grabbing on the bars of the cell to support himself; the new was so shocking that he barely managed to hold himself up.

"Of course gramps! That's what heroes are for right. Now please move away from the bars so I can remove them." Shino said and the old man did as he requested now relying on the other prisoners to support him. Shino touched the bars and the prisoners watch in awe as they turned from jet-black to golden before they seemed to turn to liquid and melt away allowing the prisoners to finally exit.

Shino quickly moved to the other cells doing the same thing and getting all the prisoners out of their cells. Some of them could stand on their own due to injuries and so Shino made some walking sticks and such to help them, but all prisoners were alive and that alone made Shino's heart at ease.

"Now everyone!" Shino shouted to get everyone's attention. "Once you get out of this room, I want you all to follow the golden line on the walls; it will lead you to the exit and were the heroes are. Please move together and take care of each other.

"You're not coming with us young man?" The elder from before asked Shino with concern.

"Don't worry, I cleared the way so you won't encounter anyone on your way, but I still have a job to do, the boss of this place is yet to be defeated." Shino explained before turning to the others, "Now go everyone!"

"But young man this is very dangerous, you can't fight that monster alone!" The old man tried to dissuade Shino but he shook his head.

"Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself, you focus on finding the heroes and getting out of here." The old man reluctantly had to leave Shino behind and go with the others.

All the prisoners got out and true to his word, there was a line of gold that stretched across the hallways and so they did as instructed and began following the line to their freedom.

'_Good thing I made that line to make sure I don't get lost in here._'

'_**Now that this is over, can we return to the actual mission we can here for?**_**'**

"Yeah, it's time to end this once and for all." Shino too got out of the room and headed in his own direction.

Edge shot, Nightclaw, and Itsuka were now moving with the other heroes who finally recovered from the psychological attack they went through and were making their way deeper in the hideout. They had encountered some Apotheosis members but easily took care of them. Suddenly, they started hearing voices coming from behind them, and quickly took fighting stances. However, to turned out to be the other heroes who were captured in the beginning.

"You guys! How did you get out of there?" Nightclaw asked happy to see his comrade same and sound.

"I'm not sure, suddenly the rooms we were trapped in opened up and we were allowed to exit." Kamui Woods answered; Itsuka noticed that someone was missing from the group.

"Wait, where is Shino? He was supposed to be with you guys." Everyone looked around but couldn't spot the blond boy.

"I don't know, he wasn't with anyone and I haven't seen him since getting trapped." Itsuka didn't like this answer but before she could ask anything else, she noticed a distinct golden line on the side of the wall.

"What is this?" She asked herself as she got closer to examine it. Edge Shot followed her curious what she was talking about.

"Is that…gold?" Edge shot said with surprise but Itsuka only smiled.

"It must be Shino! He somehow freed himself! We have to hurry; he must be looking for us!" Itsuka exclaimed but before anyone could respond, loud noises of many, many footsteps started getting closer to the heroes.

"Not more Spiders! I hate spiders!" Shouted the former leader of unit 2 but Kamui Woods stopped his panic attack.

"No this is different, these are human footsteps and they seem to be approaching fast, like their running." Kamui Woods pointed out and everyone took ready stances expecting to fight a swarm of enemies. What they didn't expect was that the footsteps were actually those of the prisoners that Shino had released who, upon seeing the heroes, started shouting and celebrating that they were finally free of their capture.

"What the hell? Where did all of these people come from? We had no report of Apotheosis abducting people!" Kamui Woods said shocked by the number.

The heroes were swarmed by the prisoners who started hugging them and thanking them for their work while they were still in daze struggling to comprehend the situation."

"Thank god, that young man was telling the truth. We're really saved." The elder man said while tearing up in happiness. His words caught the attention of both Itsuka and Edge Shot who approach the man.

"You said a young man told where to find us?" Edge Shot asked.

"Yes, he freed all of us and told us to follow the golden line on the wall to the heroes. He said his name was Shino if I remember correctly."

Itsuka grabbed the man by the shoulder a little too tightly, "Do you know where he is or where he went?"

The old man's expression turned was filled with concern an Itsuka didn't like the expression on his face, she didn't like what he said next even more. "He said he's going to face the boss of this place, I tried to stop him be he didn't listen."

"Damn it!" Itsuka shouted letting go of the old man and running off in the direction the prisoners came from.

"Kendo wait!" Edge Shot called out but she didn't respond, he turned to the other heroes, "Nightclaw! Kamui Wood! Come with me! The rest of you take these people safely out of here." The three heroes ran behind Itsuka as they all made ran as fast as they could hoping they aren't too late.

Itsuka's heart was pounding like crazy both from running so fast and from worrying about Shino, '_Shino you better be fine you hear me! I won't forgive you if anything happens, you promised me everything is gonna be fine so you better keep your promise._'

Shino on the other hand, was now standing in front of a huge metallic gate, the door to Volturnus's chamber and the site of the final battle.

'_I made it, this where it ends. This is where everything ends._'

**Thank you for reading.**


	31. Chapter31

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**A/N: Next chapter will be the last chapter of this story, as such I hope you'll be looking forward to it. One detail I want to point out that I forgot to write in the last chapter was that all the prisoners Shino free wore Quirk-suppressing cuffs that he had to remove before telling them to escape. With that out of the way, please enjoy this chapter and see in the last chapter hopefully next week.**

**Chapter 31**

Shino stood in front of the wall looking it all over, he needed to make sure that no trap was gonna get activated when he opened the door.

"You think dad needs some lame-ass trap to deal with someone like you?" Slimy was mouthing off now that they were gonna face off against his father and the leader of one of Apotheosis's divisions, Volturnus.

"Let's see what this dad you're so proud of will say when he finds out that you're the reason there are heroes all over his hideout." Shino said as he approached the door to attempt to open it.

'_Worry about yourself first, dad would never hurt me. You on the other hand, when finds out what you did to his organization, he'll rip you to pieces, and I'll be there watching you suffer._' Slimy kept his thoughts to himself as his wild imagination kept him entertained.

As soon as Shino got within an arm-length of the door, it started opening of its own accord. As it opened up, a bright light came through, it was so bright that Shino had to actively shield his eyes from it.

Entering the chamber, Shino was in disbelief at the contrast between the entire hideout that was gloomy, cold, and creepy, and this one chamber that felt full of life, bright, and beautiful. He would've thought he was outside if he didn't clearly see the walls of the chamber that were covered in golden markings all over.

"Welcome Shinohara, I'm glad you finally made it here." A powerful and deep voice came from the center of the chamber.

Hearing that voice filled Shino with anger while making Slimy very happy. Shino turned around to come face to face with Volturnus standing atop his pyramid-like throne with a triumphed smirk as if he had already won, which got on Shino's nerves even more. Volturnus was wearing an ancient-Egyptian like custom with his chest exposed except for a golden neckless and belt that held a white garb. Along with that he wore two golden bracelets and no footwear standing on his scaly and clawed bare feet.

"Volturnus you Bastard! It's over both for you and Apotheosis, and I've come here to take my revenge! I'll make you regret everything!" Shino threatened Volturnus but the villains didn't seem fazed by it at all. In fact, he was smiling.

"Oh! Have you now? How naïve, no matter how many ants band together, they can never hope to fight a lion. But I'm glad you came, it saves me the trouble of finding you. You're still of use to Apotheosis after all."

"Like hell I'll help you ever again! I'd rather die than do that!" Shino shouted disgusted by the mere idea of returning to his past life as a slave of Apotheosis.

"Father!" Slimy called out as he jumped from Shino's hand and started rolling towards Volturnus just as he had done before with Medusa, Shino wanted to stop him but he was in Volturnus's personal chamber, and who know what could be waiting for him here, any rash moves could the end of him.

Volturnus looked at the pathetic state of his son and his smile fell down and was replaced with a disapproving scowl, "Hedoro, I see that my fears were true. I knew that if you were to get out into the real world, you'd easily get captured. I wanted to find you before that ever happened, but it seems I was too late. This whole mess is your fault, correct?" Slimy stopped just by the base of Volturnus's throne, being called by his real name and the glare his father froze him in fear.

"I-It's not my fault father! That bastard kidnaped me and was going to kill me if I didn't talk, I-I had no choice!" Hedoro pleaded with his father, but the disapproving glare that didn't change told him he wasn't convinced.

"Because of you, all our efforts to rebuild have gone to waste and we'll have to start from squire one, again. You should have died instead of revealing our secrets." Out of the bushes surrounding the throne came a big crocodile and stood in between Hedoro and the stairs leading to his father.

"W-What's the meaning of this father! Y-You can't be serious!" Hedoro was terrified as the creature was staring at his soul with predatory eyes, he could tell it was no coincidence with the fact that his father didn't order the beast to move aside. Shino was watching this with surprise, he knew Volturnus wouldn't be happy knowing that his own son was the reason his hideout was getting raided, but things going on like this, he didn't know what to expect.

"In Apotheosis, there is no room for weakness. And you have shown the ultimate weakness. To allow yourself to be reduced to such a sorry state and be interrogated into giving up valuable information by a lower species. You're a disgrace to me and Apotheosis both, and there is only one way to wash this disgrace." The implications of Volturnus's word wasn't lost on Hedoro or Shino.

"Finish it." Volturnus gave a simple order and the crocodile immediately lunged at the small sphere not giving it a chance to escape as it trapped it between its jaws and started biting down, already there was cracks in the ball as Slimy screamed in pain. Somehow a deep red liquid was spurting out of the cracks. Was that blood? Did Hedoro have blood inside that orb?

"Father! Please don't! Please forgive me!" Hedoro begged his father to spare his life, but the division leader didn't even look at him.

"Father ple-" Shino watched in horror as Hedoro's final words were cut short along with his life by the crocodile shattering the orb to pieces before swallowing said pieces.

'_**What are you so terrified by? That's one less enemy you have to deal with. Besides, it's not like don't know what that bastard Volturnus is like.**_**'**

'_Yeah, but to his own son?! Even a fierce tiger wouldn't harm its children!_'

"Well then." Shino's attention returned to the villain that now had his eyes on him, "Since that is over, let's get back to the matter at hand." Volturnus was back to his calm demeanor but his smirk wasn't back with it. Shino took a ready stand as a million possibilities ran through his head, he still didn't know what Volturnus's quirk was although he guessed it had something to do with the crocodile he just saw but it wasn't enough to form a plan, and that put him in a clear disadvantage.

"The only business I have with you is killing you and riding the world of your kind once and for all!" Shino shouted at Volturnus.

"On the contrary, unlike my useless son, you are of great use to Apotheosis. It was all thanks to you that we could rebuild after the incident five years ago, this chamber in particular was made thanks to you." Shino's eyes widened as he let what Volturnus just told him sink in.

"No…don't tell me that…" Shino turned frantically at the walls of the chamber, in particular the golden lines covering them.

"That's right, not only the funds to make this chamber, but all the gold adorning it and giving it this beautiful heavenly hue is all thanks to you and the insects you helped us recycle." The realization hit Shino like lighting, this whole chamber was like a constant reminder of his failure, his crimes, and his shame.

But what baffled him most was how cruel Volturnus was, to kill people for the slightest offence, to treat others and people close to him and life itself as nothing but pawns he could do whatever he wanted with. It was disgusting and infuriating, to think such a person was allowed to roam free and do whatever he wanted made Shino blood boil.

"You fucking bastard! How cruel can you get! I will make you pay for this! All of this!" Shino exploded at Volturnus. What he didn't know was that it was Volturnus's plan to anger Shino from the beginning and draw his attention to the walls of the chamber to keep him unaware of the water sneaking to him and the crocodiles that have positioned themselves to lung at him once he was trapped.

Unfortunately, Shino fell to Volturnus's play and was completely caught off-guard when the water circled him and trapped him in a water bubble. Shino tried to remove his gloves to turn the water to gold in order to escape but Volturnus wouldn't let him, he manipulated the water to create currents inside the water bubble that messed with Shino's equilibrium denying him the focus he needed to control his gold.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the two crocodiles hiding in the canals where the water once was came out and entered water bubble heading straight at Shino and unlike him, they weren't hindered by the current whatsoever, in fact, they seemed to use it to move faster inside the huge bubble.

Shino couldn't tell where the huge reptiles were until his left arm and right leg were between their jaws as their sharp fangs stabbed into his flesh releasing his blood to mix with the water turning it into a deep red color. Shino screamed in pain as the fangs dug deeper in his arm and legs, but his screams were muffled by the water.

"Don't worry, they won't kill you. I just need you to be less opposing." Volturnus told Shino not really expecting a response.

However, thanks to the crocodile now stuck to Shino's arm, his wounds didn't bleed heavily and using them as a reference point Shino managed to find his equilibrium and moved the glove on his left hand turning it into a rod that lunch at the crocodile stabbing it in the eye. In addition, the water surrounding him started quickly turning to gold upon contact with his bare hand.

Volturnus's eyes widened a bit when he noticed the water changing until it became a giant ball of gold that he couldn't see either Shino or his crocodiles from. "I see you still have the will to fight, shouldn't have expected any less from you." Volturnus complimented Shino still not showing any worry from this turn of events.

Inside the ball, Shino had dispatched the two crocodiles using the gold he just acquired and was now bandaging his wounds and thinking over what just happened.

"That damn Volturnus, he played me good. His quirk seems to give him control over water, figures considering Slimy's quirk." Shino said as he finished treating his leg's injuries. "Both my left arm and right leg are badly wounded, good thing I don't really need them to fight, as long as the joints are fine, I can still fight." Shino exclaimed as the gold surrounding him started melt and slither towards him climbing and cover his body and forming his golden armor in his Valkyrie style.

Finally, after getting prepared for his fight, Shino opened the ball and stepped out to find Volturnus has not moved from his throne, and instead was standing with his arms crossed and an impatient look on his face.

"Took you long enough, I was so generous to give you all the time you needed to prepare so don't complain when I show you the difference between us." Volturnus taunted, but Shino wasn't falling for it this time.

"You're acting smug now, but we'll see who's laughing in the end." Shino replied but Volturnus didn't say anything in return. Instead, he raised his hand and water started shooting out from all around the chamber. The water took the shape of snakes and they all lunged at Shino.

Shino took to the air to easily avoid the attack and started making his way up to Volturnus with his sword and shield in hand. Volturnus moved his hands again making a pulling motion and the water snakes were hot on Shino's tail. However, they weren't even close to Shino's speed.

'_Looks like he can't make them move any faster. If so then this should be easy._' Shino thought looking back at the snakes struggling to chase after him. He then turned to face his opponent but he found him still with a calm expression with no sign of worry. This seemed strange to Shino but didn't deter him from going through with his attack.

Shino reached Volturnus and raised his sword before swinging it down to attack. Volturnus in turn raised his arm to defend and the moment the sword collided with it, it shattered to pieces. Shino looked in shock at his broken sword that left no mark on Volturnus's scaly arm.

"Did you think you can easily harm someone like me? My scales are harder than steel and I can easily break a skull with two fingers." Volturnus informed a still shocked Shino before swinging his tail at Shino like a club which Shino barely managed to use his shield to defend against. However, the attack was so heavy that in made a dent in the shield and sent Shino flying and smashing into the wall of the chamber.

"I would advise you to just surrender if you don't want to suffer any longer. As I told you, I will not kill you, at least not right now." Volturnus once again tried to convince Shino to stop fighting.

Shino sot on his knees with hands on the ground and Shook his head to regain focus. He looked up to find several crocodiles staring him down, these once looked a bit different, they had what looked like mechanical backpacks. He looked up more at Volturnus still standing at the top of the pyramid still wearing a smug smirk on his face.

"You can take that advice and shove it up your scaly ass, I told you I prefer to die than help you ever again." Shino exclaimed as he stood up on his feet.

"You seem to misunderstand what I'm saying, you don't have a choice in the matter. I'm just offering you a less painful approach." Volturnus said.

"If you want me you'll have to come and get me." Shino said extending his hand and waving his fingers in a taunting gesture.

"Oh I don't have to do anything myself, that's what my pets are for." Volturnus said and the crocodiles all lunged at Shino at the same time. However, Shino was prepared this time as flew up once again. "It's a neat trick you have there, my pets have tricks of their own you know." The backpacks all opened up and out came laser canons that all started to shoot at Shino.

"They have laser guns!" Shino exclaimed as he dodged shot after shot, some were hitting his wings and he was glad he didn't need them intact to fly or else he would've been in deep trouble.

"Indeed they do, and that is not the only thing you'll have to deal with." Volturnus once again raised the water snakes before merging all of them into two large snakes that both started chasing after Shino. The snakes were still slow, but coupled with the lasers, it was getting annoying to deal with.

'_I need to get rid of these damn crocodiles and their annoying lasers._' Shino flew even higher to get a better view of his enemies. An idea came to mind when he noticed how coordinated the attacks were. Just like the crocodiles that attacked him in the bubble, the water snakes moved easily in the rain of laser shots without getting hit even once. He also noticed how the water snakes were dripping and leaving puddles of water behind as they tried to chase after him, which meant that Volturnus's control wasn't perfect.

Shino moved to enact his plan charging straight at one of the water snakes. As he thought, the lasers were flying around him but none were coming his way.

"Have you finally surrendered and accepted your fate?" Volturnus asked misunderstanding Shino's move.

"You really don't listen do you? I already said that would never happen!" Shino exclaimed as he got closer to the giant water serpent.

Shino didn't want to leave any room for error, he waited until he was between the jaws of the serpent and just before it bit down on him, he used his superior speed to get out and circle around its head. He removed the armor covering his hands and touched the snake. Volturnus's expression changed for the first time to that of shock as he watched his water construction turn to gold.

"Shoot him down now!" He ordered to his pets and all the laser cannons turned to face Shino and started firing but Shino used the giant snake statue hide from their assault. "Don't think you can hide there forever!" Volturnus sent the second snake lunged at Shino trying to pry Shino out of his hiding place, but that was all according to Shino plan.

The snake opened his mouth and from it many pressurized water bullets shot at Shino. He quickly manipulated part of the gold he stood atop to create a dome-shaped shield around him. "Don't think this thing is gonna save you." Indeed the water bullets passed through the shield easily creating many holes in it and weakening it before the snake itself slammed into it and shattering it to pieces.

Volturnus looked pleased until he saw that were no sign of Shino's body anywhere. "Where did that brat go to?" Volturnus stopped the blasters to get a better vision as he started looking around trying to find Shino.

Shino on the other hand was hiding himself inside the golden snake's body, "Damn! Those water bullets are faster than I thought." He said clutching his injured shoulder, he quickly wrapped it up in bandages. "It doesn't matter now, everything is according to plan.

Shino opened a small hole in the bottom side of the snake's head which overlooked the crocodiles. After memorizing their locations, Shino closed the hole, then from the bottom of the head he shot a rain of golden spikes at the unassuming reptiles which caught Volturnus by surprise killing more than half the crocodiles.

"He's inside the statue!" Volturnus exclaimed and reactivated what's left of the blasters while lunching the water snake at Shino. It slammed itself into the golden statue breaking it to pieces, but he was just playing into Shino's hands. As the pieces fell they all turned to spikes and lunched at the rest of the crocodiles killing them and destroying the laser blasters as well.

By the end of it, the ground looked like a crocodile slaughter house as crocodile corpses laid everywhere, and Shino stood high above it all with a satisfied expression on his face, but his job was far from over. The water snake lunged at him out of nowhere and it was too late to dodge it. "I got you now! Prepare to suffer for what you did to my pets!" Volturnus exclaimed as he started making water swirl violently inside the snake.

However, just when Volturnus thought he won, the second snake started turning to gold and before he could save some of the water, a second snake statue was made, then Shino climb out of it and stood on top. This time it was him looking down on Volturnus.

"I told you I'll be the one to laugh in the end." Shino taunted with a smirk and it was Volturnus's turn to get angry.

"How dare you?! You haven't won yet you cheeky bastard!" Volturnus shouted in anger.

"And what can you do with barely any water left and none of your pets to fight for you?" Shino asked mockingly.

"You might have defeated my pets, but you haven't put scratch on me yet!" Volturnus said with confidence as he slammed his hand on his chest before finally moving from his throne and jumping at Shino.

"So you're gonna fight me yourself?" Shino said as he once again took to the sky to avoid Volturnus's attack. To his surprise, the villain's punch was strong enough to break off the head of the snake Shino was standing on. '_That punch is really powerful! I better be careful, if I get hit by one of those, it will be bad._' Shino flew a bit higher.

That didn't matter much to Volturnus, "Who said I can't use water anymore?" Water droplets moved from the puddles left behind by the snakes and gathered at his finger tip for a while as he applied more pressure before he made a shooting motion towards Shino lunching the droplet at high speed at him. Shino managed to avoid it mostly thanks to the distance and Volturnus's aim being off but the shot hit the roof of the chamber and easily drilled a small hole in it.

Shino looked at the hole with wide eyes before turning to Volturnus only to find him charging another shot. "They might be slower to fire and harder to control which makes them a bit unreliable, but the extra pressure make them more deadly." Volturnus explained before firing another shot, that one hit one of Shino's wings and cut through it like a hot knife cutting through butter.

'_These bullets are dangerous, thank god he only has enough water to make small bullets, or this fight would've been much harder, now I just need to stop him from firing._' "You think you're the only one that can shoot!" Shino exclaimed as his wing was repaired by the extra gold he had and then both wings spread wide. "Take this!" The feathers of Shino's wings shot in hail of golden arrows all directed at Volturnus.

All the arrows collided with Volturnus's body but did no damage to him thanks to his hard scales. He didn't even left a finger to defend. "See that boy! You're attack are useless against me!" Volturnus exclaimed proudly.

"His scales are no joke, but there has to be a weak point somewhere I can exploit. Let's try to shoot from a different direction then and see." Shino started moving around while shooting much less arrows but at different parts of Volturnus's body.

No matter how many arrows he shot, it didn't seem like Volturnus had a vulnerable part of his body. That is until Shino noticed something weird, '_Whenever I hit his back or hit him from above he never even reacted just to feed his ego and show how tuff he was, but when I shoot at his chest or stomach, he actively defends against it, could it be?_' Shino smirked and stopped his aerial assault and started descending down.

"Have you finally given up on your useless tricks?" Volturnus asked pleased.

"Yeah, there is no need for them anyways. I was only doing it to find a weak point, and I found it" Shino claimed a smile.

"Nonsense! I have no weak points!" Volturnus shouted but concern was clear in his voice.

"But it does, and very big one at that." Shino pointed Volturnus's chest. "Just like a crocodile, you hard armor doesn't extend to your chest and stomach areas, they are the biggest weakness you have."

Volturnus gritted his teeth in anger, "So what if you figured out my weak points! There is no way you can get to them." He put his hands up ready for a fight.

"On the contrary, I have just the thing to get to your weak points and put you down." Shino drew more gold into his armor and it started changing its appearance, the wings dissolved before each wing split into two parts that and those parts reformed into arms which one pair above Shino's actual arms still covered in armor while the second pair was under them all six limbs had more gold than before and as such were much denser and heavier. "Golden armor: Azura Style!" Shino exclaimed showing off his hew armor.

"This is your trump card?" Volturnus was not impressed. "You think changing your armor will make a difference? Let me tell you, it won't"

"We'll see about that!" Shino lunched himself at Volturnus who tried to punch him only for Shino to dodge under it without losing speed getting right up in Volturnus's face before delivering three punches at the same time with his right arms to Volturnus's chest and stomach. He could see the pain on his opponent's face clearly and decided he wasn't done yet.

He jumped slightly above Volturnus's head and hit him on the head with his elbow using the weight of all three of his arms to deal some internal damage. Volturnus stumbled back a bit and Shino wasn't going to give him a chance to rest and went to continue his assault.

"You damn bastard!" Volturnus shouted furious and swung his tail as hard as he could at Shino. Caught off-guard and moving fast to stop, Shino barely had enough time put all six of his arms to defend against it. Only for the force of the attack to throw him away quite a distance. Shino got up on his feet throwing up a bit of blood as he did. "I got careless. That strike was stronger than the previous one." He looked at his still trembling hands and could feel his injured arm throbbing in pain, his legs weren't any better as they too trembled and he could feel blood flowing inside the armor. "I've lost a lot of blood and am nearing my limit. I need to finish this now."

"You've been a thorn in my back for far more than acceptable Shinohara. It seems I will need to thoroughly remind you that your place is under my feet like all the other insignificant insects." Volturnus said as he walked towards Shino.

"You talk too much for someone about to get ass handed to them." Shino replied with a smirk.

Without saying a word, Volturnus went from walking to running as he charged at Shino who responded by also charging at him. Volturnus made several attempts to punch Shino but he dodged all of them and got close once again. This time Volturnus was ready for that and quickly turned around wand swung his tail, but Shino was prepared as well and jumped over it before grabbing hold of it.

"What do you think you're doing? Unhand my tail this instant!" Volturnus demanded.

"As you wish. Since you like swinging this thing so much, let me help you." Shino grabbed tighter with all six hands and swung the tail along Volturnus in circles before throwing him away. He wasn't done yet, Shino charged after Volturnus catching up to him mid-flight.

"I told you I'll make you pay for all the people you've hurt didn't I? This is for my mom!" Shino punched Volturnus in the stomach with all his might extending his flight, He then punched him in the chest with equal power, "This is for my dad!", all six arms started wailing on Volturnus leaving no place without striking it, "And this is for all the people you made me hurt." Punch after punch, Shino kept hitting Volturnus over and over again until he had pushed him back to the base of his throne.

"And this…" Shino uppercut Volturnus sending him flying above the throne before changing his armor to the Valkyrie style and flying right behind him.

Volturnus opened his eyes only to find himself staring at the bright light that illuminates his chamber. Not a second later, a figure blocked his vision. It was Shino with his hands raised above him. All the gold started melting and gathering at his fist, not only the golden statues he made during his fight, but also all the gold covering the walls of the chambers move to his command as well as the gold of his armor except the wings and gloves. All this gold formed a gigantic fist.

"…is for ME!" Shino slammed his fist in Volturnus's body lunching it along with him at the throne. Volturnus collided with the throne with the weight of the fist on top of him. The huge force broke the throne in half and rocked the entire hideout to its core. A shockwave Itsuka and the others felt as they were approaching the chamber, it was so big that they had to stop to balance themselves.

"What was that?!" Kamui Woods shouted as he leaned on the walls as to not fall.

"I don't know, but it can't be good." Edge Shot said helping Nightclaw up. Itsuka was not about to wait and as soon as the shockwave settled she resumed running at full speed with the other three following behind.

"Kendo! Wait!" The three heroes called out as they ran.

'_Shino please be safe._' This was the only thought in Itsuka's head right now.

Shino descended down only to fall to his knees as soon as his feet the ground. He limit was approaching and his leg and arm were already getting numb.

"Not…Yet." Shino said in a strained voice as he struggled to get up on his feet, he molded his wings into a spear and started slowly walking towards where the wreckage of Volturnus's throne and Volturnus himself was using the spear help him walk.

Reaching the center, he found Volturnus laid on his back barely clinging to consciousness, a testament to the strength of his scales, although they were cracked all over with blood spilling out of them, they weren't broken.

Shino stood atop Volturnus with his left foot on his chest, "Time to keep my promise and rid the world of you forever." Volturnus didn't replied but gave Shino a glare full of hatred and resentment. Shino raised the spear above Volturnus's chest ready to finish him, but a voice calling out to him stopped him.

"Shino! Where are you?!" Itsuka called out as soon as she entered the chamber. Seeing all the wreckage and crocodile corpses that she didn't know how they came to such a place gave her a bad feeling, aside from feeling sick from the strong smell of blood everywhere.

Just after walking for a bit she spotted Shino in the center of the wreckage, by now the others had caught up with her. Even from where they stood they could tell Shino wasn't in the best condition.

"Shino!" She called out once again and started running towards him with the others right behind her when Shino turned to them surprised.

Once they got closer they noticed the body under Shino's foot. "Shino, is that Volturnus?" Edge Shot asked, but Shino didn't speak only nodding.

"You managed to beat him alone!" Kamui Woods said surprised.

However the group then noticed the spear in Shino's hand that was place just above Volturnus's chest and turned to Shino with worried looks.

"Shino? What are you doing with that?" Itsuka asked as she slowly approached Shino.

He looked away before grabbing the spear with both hands again, "This has to be done." The heroes panicked, they knew the look in Shino's eyes were of someone willing to kill.

"Shino stop! This is not how we do things!" Edge Shot took a few steps closer trying to reason with the young boy, but there was no getting through to him.

"Maybe you don't, but I do." Shino raised the spear and was about to strike it down.

"Shino stop!" Itsuka called out, but it was Kamui Woods that took action extending his arm to grab the spear and yank it out Shino's admittedly loose grip before binding him in branches.

Itsuka quickly ran to check on Shino while the others just stood there in shock. "Release me right now!" Shino shouted as he fought with branches hindering his movement but his injuries were too severe to allow him to exert much strength, not that he had much left anyways.

"Shino please calm down, I don't know why you're doing this but please stop, just stop." Itsuka tried to calm Shino down but he wasn't having it as he kept struggling to release himself. The other heroes came to his side as well, but unlike Itsuka kept a fair distance.

"You don't understand, none of you do! That bastard has to die. He took everything away from me!" Shino shouted out as tears began falling down his face, he was so close to stop now. His words however caused more confusion and worry to his allies.

"What are you talking about Shino? Do you have a relation with Volturnus?" Edge Shot question. This made Itsuka remember that Shino was actively trying to find Apotheosis before even joining Edge Shot's agency.

'_So his target wasn't the league of villains, but Apotheosis itself! But why? Why would he go through all of this, and what does he mean by Volturnus taking everything away from him?_' Itsuka looked at Shino with more worry than before arriving at to the chamber. It was clear that there was much he still hid from her.

Shino, seeing no way out of this, stopped struggling and was about to speak. However, he noticed Volturnus moving ever so slightly, nobody noticed it having all their attention on Shino. The villain raised his hand and a small puddle of water that was near him moved to his finger tip. Shino traced the trajectory of his finger and to his horror, his target was Itsuka.

Shino looked at the heroes, none of them were close enough to stop it in time not that would they would believe him right now. '_At this rate, Itsuka is gonna…_' Shino didn't dare finish that thought, he knew the power of those bullets and had to act fast if he wanted to save Itsuka. He discretely touched the branches with a bare finger turning it to gold and then removed it from of him.

"Shino stop!" Nightclaw demanded thinking that Shino was trying to escape, oh how wrong he was.

Shino quickly got up just as Volturnus finished charging the bullet and was about to shoot it. He pushed Itsuka out of the way at the right moment when Volturnus made his shot, the heroes noticed by then but were too late to make a move. He was about to move out of the way as well, but in that moment, his legs decided to give out and he was unable dodge the shot from hitting him in the chest. The force of the shot threw his body down on the ground.

"Shino! NO!" Itsuka screamed out witnessing the horrible scene unfold right before her eyes, she quickly ran to Shino.

Kamui Woods quickly turned to Volturnus wrapping him from head to toe in branches before running to check on Shino along with Edge Shot and Nightclaw.

Shino laid on his back unable to move. '_Ugh my chest hurts._' He slowly and painfully moved his hand to where the pain originated and then held it in front of his face. '_I can't see properly._'his vision was very blurry and he barely could recognize the shape of his own hand, but he could see the red color mixed with the golden. '_Is that blood? Is that my blood?_' Shino asked himself.

'_**Yes, it's your blood, you're injured, you're dying.**_**'** The voice answered Shino's questions.

'_Oh! So that's what dying feels like? Is that what they felt in their last moments? I do feel cold._' Though he couldn't see it, his hands were shaking violently. Something came into Shino's view, or rather someone. '_Is that…Itsuka?_' Although he couldn't see her face properly, the orange color of her hair was a giveaway that it was indeed her. However seeing her in this way triggered a realization for Shino that made his eyes widen in surprise which for how simple a move it was, actually felt painful which forced him to lower them immediately. '_So that's how it was! I knew I saw her before. Shame it took me this long to piece it together, but at least now I know._' Shino smiled at Itsuka, or at least he attempted to do so, he wasn't sure if he managed to do it or not since he could feel his face anymore, except for pain, but he felt pain all throughout his body so it wasn't much different. He could also feel his body getting heavier and he felt tired, so tired he could sleep for ages.

He looked at Itsuka one last time, he wanted to talk to her so much but breathing was already painful enough with each breathe feeling like blades running down his throat and cutting it to pieces, after a few tries, he gave up on the idea after coughing up blood which intensified the pain in his chest and throat. '_She doesn't seem injured. That good…I'm glad. I guess this is…the last time I'll see her then…I'm sorry Itsuka…I hope you can one day forgive me…oh how I wish…to see the kids one again…Mother, detective Hamura, and Maria too…and my friends in U.A….I truly wished I could spend more time with all of you…but…this is for the best._' Shino thought as he remembered all his loved ones, he was filled with regret over not seeing them again, but all good things must come to an end.

Shino saw Itsuka's figure disappear which worried him a bit, but he remembered that there were others with her so it should be fine. Not that he could do anything to help anymore, and although wasn't sure, he got the feeling that his body was moving, not of his own will of course. Black spots started appearing in his vision and his mind became more static, it was becoming harder and harder to form a thought. He didn't fight the feeling of exhaustion that overwhelmed him though.

'_My eyes feel really heavy. I did everything I could, and it looks like it time to say goodbye._'

'_**That's right, this is the end. Close your eyes, it's over now.**_**'**

With that Shino slowly closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall into the endless abyss below.

**Thank you for reading.**


	32. Chapter32

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**A/N: I'm sorry everyone, but there has been a slight change in plans. This was supposed to be the final chapter, but it turned out much longer than I expected. Therefore, I decided to split it in order to not cut any scenes. So I hope you don't mind and enjoy this chapter.**

**Chapter 32**

The students of class 1-A were all gathered in the common area as each of them to was busy doing something. Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida, and Tsu were sitting on one side of the table chatting while Yaoyorozu was discussing a book with Todoroki that he seemed interested in. Sato was helping Koda get some food for his pets. Kirishima and Bakugo had just entered the room coming from the gym where Kirishima was helping Bakugo with training. The rest of the class were sitting in front of the T.V channel surfing looking for something they would all agree on. While Ashido and Hagakure wanted a romantic comedy, Sero and Kaminari insisted on an action movie. Ojiro, Shoji, Tokoyami, and Jiro remained neutral and watched as the two sides bickered with each other trying to snatch the controller out of each other's hands. Nobody knew where Mineta was, and nobody wanted to know.

The main entrance of the dorms opened and in came Aizawa and All-Might in his deflated form. This caught the attention of everyone as they stopped what they were doing and stared at the two teachers. They both had grim expressions their faces as they looked down, it was obvious that they didn't come to deliver good news to the heroes-in-training. Kaminari, who was holding the remote of the TV dropped it leaving the screen on a random channel.

The two heroes looked at each other not knowing how to even start with this. They both silently agreed that the underground hero would tell them, he was their homeroom teacher after all. But he wasn't used to delivering this kind of news, and he himself hasn't fully accepted this yet as evident by his teeth that were grinding against each other hidden by his scarf, if that's his reaction, what could his students' response be?

"Listen up all of you; I have some to tell you." Aizawa started. Everyone gathered around to hear what their teacher had to say some of them already trying to predict what it was, a new training regimen? Some new rules? An activity that would push them to their limits and beyond? Those were all ideas that came into the teenagers' heads having grown accustomed to U.A. surprises. This however, wasn't a surprise they ever thought of, or ever wanted to in the first place.

"It's about Shino." Aizawa said in a disheartened voice, more so than usual, and it not only threw all the students' ideas to the mental trash, but also introduced new ideas, new worries as they all remembered how Shino acted in the last two days.

"What happened Mr. Aizawa?" Iida asked the question on his class's mind. "Did Shino do something? Now that I think about it, he hadn't returned from Edge Shot's agency yet. And he was acting weirdly as of late." This last bit of information was news to Aizawa and All-Might and something they will have to discuss later, but first they had to inform their students.

"As you all know, Shino was enlisted in Edge Shot's agency an-" Aizawa was cut off by a loud noise of the TV as the news were starting.

Kaminari hurried to grab the controller and switch the TV off, "S-Sorry Mr. Aizawa, I didn't realize it was still turned on and at this high of a volume." Before he could do it however, Aizawa raised his hand signaling him to not turn it off, which was strange to everyone except All-Might.

"Everyone come here." Aizawa ordered as he pointed to the screen. Everyone obliged and for the first time, Aizawa was thankful for the reporters for taking this heavy task from him, he'd still have to deal with the aftermath, but it was much more preferable than telling them himself. In addition, seeing it with his own eyes could help him deal with it a bit better, at least he hoped so.

The reporter appeared on screen and relayed words in front of her, "**Argent News! Earlier today, a raid was conducted on a villain organization called Apotheosis that made the Onderon forest their base of operation.**" Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida, and Tsu all shared a glance. They now knew why Aizawa had asked them to watch the news, but that didn't explain the dark expression on his and All-Might's face. Todoroki and Bakugo also had similar ideas, but they were less knowledgeable about the subject than the other four.

"**Several prominent hero agencies participated in the raid, including two of the top ten heroes, Edge Shot and Kamui Woods, along with several other hero agencies and the police force.**" The rest of the class caught up to what's happening.

"So that's why Shino hasn't come back yet! Looks like two of our class have already made the new, huh Kirishima?" Kaminari said while nudging the red-head with a smirk.

"Kaminari, be quite and listen to the end." Aizawa immediatelyshot off any jokes with a glare that wasn't due to genuine anger rather than the usual irritation or annoyance. This of course didn't go unnoticed by his students as their homeroom teacher wasn't on to lose his cool easily, there was definitely something wrong.

"Sorry Mr. Aizawa." The electric quirk user apologized as he deflated in his seat, but Aizawa's stare was still sharp. All-Might placed a hand on his colleague's shoulder causing him to look back at him. He shook his head and Aizawa understood what the former number one hero meant. He calmed down and turned his attention back the television awaiting the dreaded words he knew were coming.

"**In this raid, almost all the members of the Apotheosis organization were captured. In addition, over fifty civilians were found and rescued from the hideout, Apotheosis had kidnapped them to force them to work for them as prisoners, but now they're free to return to their families and live normal lives again.**" The student were more than impressed but chose to say nothing as to not direct Aizawa glare at them. They couldn't help but get an ominous feeling however, like something bad was about to happen.

"**On the heroes' side of things, they suffered no causalities, and most injuries were minor ones that required little medical attention. The only exception is a young hero-in-training and a first-year U.A. student Shinohara Kazushige who, according to our reports, suffered life-threatening injuries in a battle with the leader of Apotheosis, Volturnus, where he managed to defeat the villain but didn't escape unscathed. The young man was immediately transported to the nearest hospital to undergo surgery in hopes of saving his life. We thank him for his heroic deeds and pray for his recovery.**" Silence spread in the common room. All the students of 1-A stared at the TV screen with blank expressions, the news anchor continued talking but her voice became background noise to them as reality slowly dawned on them.

"BULLSHIT!" Bakugo was the first to react, and his reaction was just as Aizawa and All-Might expected, and feared.

"This must be a joke! There is no way that this is true!" Many of them cried out in defiance, clearly not wanting to believe what they just heard.

Iida stood up and turned to Aizawa with panic and fear the hero never saw in the class president before, "Mr. Aizawa please say this isn't true. Tell me this is the media exaggerating for publicity." The tall boy pleaded to his teacher to give him the answers he wanted to hear.

"Yeah! Shino is strong, he's never lost before, he's gonna be fine right?!" Uraraka joined Iida as Tsu stood next to her with a face that to outsiders could seem blank, people who knew her could tell how much fear it held. They too didn't want to believe it, there was just no way it was true, right?

While everyone had stood up, Midoriya and Todoroki were still sitting on the couch. Todoroki stared into the ground with widened eyes, the dual-eyed boy didn't show much in terms of emotions, but even he could face such news with an even face. Midoriya turned to face his idol, All-Might, and they locked eyes, but instead of the seeing the confident smile he knew from his hero that told him everything is gonna be okay and that things will work out, he saw in uncertainty and worry and instead of a smile, All-Might's lips arced downwards. Midoriya knew then that things were not okay, and they might never be. If All-Might himself didn't know what to do, then was there even hope left?

"I'm sorry, but what you heard was the truth. Right now, Shino is about to undergo surgery where it's a guarantee that he'll make it." Aizawa hated the words as they came out of his mouth, but this was reality and no matter how much he hated it, there was no way for him to change.

The students took a step back as their eyes widened in horror. Iida looked to the side gritting his teeth and clinching his fists so hard they threatened to bleed, "No…it can't be…it just can't." He wasn't alone in this as the rest of his classmates he similar expressions.

"Shino…no." Uraraka couldn't handle the news and hid her face in Tsu's shoulder with tears at the edges of her eyes as the frog girl tried to calm her down looking not that much better herself.

"How could this happen?" Kirishima slammed his fist at the table in frustration, the feeling of sadness and helplessness he felt wasn't unlike the rest of class 1-A.

However, Midoriya stood up drawing everyone's attention, he turned to Aizawa and All-Might with determination that the two didn't expect to see from the green-haired young man. "Mr. Aizawa, All-Might, which hospital was sent to?" The question surprised everyone. Midoriya turned to his friends, "Shino is still alive guys; we can't give on him now and act like he already lost. He never gave up on any of us so we must be by his side when he needs us." Midoriya's words filled the others with the hope he himself had within him as they all stood up with renewed determination, even Aizawa and All-Might couldn't help but feel a little reassured by their student's speech.

"Damn straight!" Bakugo shouted, "As much as I hate to admit it, that Goldie Lox is a fighter, and damn good one at that." The class's resident hothead loud declaration got everybody fired up and they all turned to their teachers. All-Might smiled proudly at his students while Aizawa smiled under his scarf where no one could see it.

**In the hospital:**

Itsuka sat down on one of the benches in the waiting room. Her face staring at the ground with widened eyes stuck to an otherwise emotionless expression. She was still in her hero costume since she came straight here along with Shino. Edge Shot, Nightclaw, and the other heroes were here as well. Unfortunately, they had to leave since their work was far from finished. They still needed to take care of the things after the mission. The place was quite with barely anyone in the room aside from the doctors, nurses and some patients, the media were here too wanting to get the scoop on Shino's condition, but Edge Shot and the others drove them away when they left, she was thankful for that.

She sat there without moving an inch as in her head she kept replaying the events that just transpired before she came here, it happened so fast and she wanted to know how things came to this, how did it all go wrong? Where did it all go wrong?

She remembered when they found him, but he was injured. She quickly ran to him happy that was alive and worried about his injuries, but once she got closer she saw what he standing there for. He had his legs over what she assumed was Volturnus, and he wanted to kill him. She saw it in his eyes, if not stopped, he was gonna do it without hesitation, but why? She could understand hating the villain especially after seeing the people he kept prisoners, but to want to kill him? It wasn't like Shino to do that. She then remembered Shino words when the heroes asked him about it. He said Volturnus took everything away from him, but what did he mean? What was the relation between him and Apotheosis?

She knew Shino was keeping track of the investigation involving Apotheosis long before joining Edge Shot's agency. In fact, it was why he joined him in the first place. At the time, she and the others thought that he was after the league and wanted information from Apotheosis, but it was clear that they were wrong.

Her most pressing matter was what happened next. Somehow, Volturnus wasn't completely helpless and made an attempt at taking her life. But Shino saved her, only to take the hit himself. It happened so fast that she didn't remember it clearly, all she knew was that Shino pushed her and when she turned back, she saw his body being knocked back to the ground as blood splattered on the ground, his blood. She immediately ran to him in a panic and was horrified from what she saw, he had a hole the size of a finger in his chest, blood was streaming out non-stop tainting his clothes and the ground around him with its red color. She ripped a part of her costume and tried to stop the bleeding, but it was no use. She was starting to cry when Shino looked at her and smiled. Although she could see the light in his eyes dwindle and wasn't sure if he even knew she was there, he smiled like everything was alright, but it wasn't, nothing was alright, he was dying in front of her and she couldn't do anything to save him.

Itsuka line of thought was cut short when running noise sounded through the hallways getting closer and closer to where she was. An old woman ran into the waiting room in a hurry and started frantically looking around, probably trying to find a staff member, Itsuka was about to return to her silent contemplating when the elderly woman noticed her and ran up to her grabbing her by the shoulder.

"You're Itsuka Kendo right?" The woman asked between her heavy breathes, he voice showed both exhaustion and distress and Itsuka could see desperation her eyes, but how did she know her name? And why did she come to her instead of continuing to look for a nurse or a doctor? These were all new unanswered questions being piled on top of all the ones she was still dealing with, and her head was starting to hurt.

"Yes I'm, who are you?" Itsuka gave a simple answer.

"I'm Shino's mother! Please tell what happened to him! What happened to my son?" Itsuka froze upon hearing who the woman was, she heard a lot about her from Shino before, but this was the first time she's met her. For their first meeting to be under such circumstances was unexpected to say the least.

"You're…Shino's mother?" Itsuka repeated the woman's statement back at her with widened eyes.

"Yes, please tell me what happened. The police called and just that he was sent here to do some kind surgery! And I came as fast as I-." Mother's stopped when she saw Itsuka's face. It was stuck in shock as a single tear came down her face, which then contorted in agony as more tear came down. The girl threw herself at older woman burying her face in her chest as she cried her heart out releasing wails of pain muffled by Mother's clothes.

Mother was caught by surprise at first, but quickly got herself together. She hugged Itsuka and rubbed her back trying to comfort the young girl. "Cry my child, release all these tears and hold nothing back." Mother said as tears fell down her own face and the two fell to their knees. Itsuka didn't tell her anything, but Mother knew, she could feel it from the girl's reaction.

Detective Hamura entered shortly after looking as exhausted as Mother when she first came in. immediately his eyes fell on the two females crying on the ground and as a detective, he understood the meaning behind those tears meant as his face fell into depression. This was not good.

After everyone cried for a while, Itsuka finally managed to calm down. "I'm sorry for suddenly bursting into tears like that." She apologized to the two elders who comforted her, they met her apology with warm and comforting smiles that reminded her of Shino, and she could see why he was so fond of them and always told her about them.

"No worries dear, you were brave to hold it back for as long as you did." Mother said but right after that, her smile dropped. "I know it must be hard on you, but I still want to know what happened. Could you please tell me?" She asked Itsuka with a calm voice different from when they first met.

"Of course, you have every right to know." Itsuka said before taking a deep breath and readied herself mentally, but just when she was about to start, loud noises sounded throughout the halls as class 1-A barged into the waiting room with the subtlety of a rail canon with Aizawa and All-Might calmly walking right behind them having gotten used to the class's personality. The nurses that happened to walk past at the time however, didn't share that understanding.

After all of them received an earful from the nurse about not making loud noises in a hospital that only stopped thanks to All-Might stepping in, the class noticed Itsuka sitting at one of the waiting stalls and made their way to them.

"Kendo! Are you alright? What happened? How is Shino? Is he gonna be fine? Did the doctors say anything?" The class didn't waste a second interrogating the young girl about everything. While she understood their concern, she was overwhelmed by the amount of questions thrown at her.

Their hail of words stopped when they finally noticed the two people sitting next to Itsuka who were visibly amused by what they were seeing. Itsuka caught on and quickly introduced them to the class.

"This is Shino's mother, and this is detective Hamura, they are the ones who took care of Shino." Detective Hamura couldn't help but feel a bit of pride even though he didn't do much in raising Shino.

The class, now knowing who these people were took a step back and attempted to introduce themselves but Mother raised a hand to stop them. "We already know you're Shino's classmates, he always talked about you guy with fondness. I'm just glad he had such wonderful friends by his side." The future heroes were happy with the compliment, but the mention of Shino reminded them of the reason they were here in the first place. They turned to Itsuka who understood their curious and concerned gazes, "Sit down, you all came at the perfect time, I was just about to tell what happened…"

After Itsuka explained everything, many of class 1-A, Aizawa, and All-Might had the same idea, '_Volturnus better hope they keep him in jail forever, because if I get my hands on him, it won't be pretty._'

"It was entirely my fault, he took that hit for me and now he's like this." Itsuka said with a low head and tears at the edge of her eyes.

"Nonsense!" Mother shouted out of nowhere surprising Itsuka as she looked at her with shock. Mother then turned to Itsuka and held her hands, "Shino loved you so much that he valued your life over his, blaming yourself over his own choice would only make him sad. So don't ever think that way again." Itsuka could tell now where did Shino learn how to be so supportive and reassuring. Itsuka turned to the others only to receive more reassurance as they all smiled at her.

"Thanks guys." She said wiping the tears of her eyes grateful for the support.

"And what about the surgery? Any news?" Todoroki asked Itsuka, but she shook her head disappointed.

"Since he was taken in, it's been three hours but the nurses have now idea when it'll be finished or whether there is a problem or not." The others didn't like that answer very much but there was nothing they could do about it.

After another half hour of waiting, the surgeon Itsuka knew was in charge of Shino's operation came out, she immediately ran to him and the others soon followed. The poor man almost needed his own doctor after nearly getting a heart attack when he saw the crowd running at him at full speed.

"Is Shino alright?" Itsuka was the first to ask. The surgeon took a moment to calm himself before he turned to the group awaiting his response with a smile.

"The procedure was a success." Hearing this the group exploded with shouts of happiness and some of them even cried knowing their friend was saved now. "The injury in his chest miraculously missed his heart by an inch; the real problem was that he lost way too much blood. Thankfully, his blood type is AB, which is a universal recipient, so there was no problem in finding a donor. After that it was simply a matter of healing and closing his wounds, he has some cracked bones but with time those should heal as will." No one could complain about that, having new scars and some broken bones was much better alternative.

"Can we visit him now?" Mother asked as she approached the man with hopeful eyes.

"He's still unconscious, but he should be up soon, I see no problem in you coming in. I'm sure he'd be happy to see you when he wakes up." The surgeon said and was about to guide the group to where Shino was before he turned around again, "Also, please keep your voice to a minimum, if you cause anymore disturbance, we'd have to ask you to leave." The group collectively sweat-dropped at being called out, but that didn't dampen their excitement to see their friend, alive and well again as they followed the surgeon.

Opening the door of the room, it was all white with nothing filling it but a single couch and two chairs, on the side of the room was Shino laid in white hospital bed with many medical machines attached to him his left arm and right leg were wrapped up as well.

"Excuse me, but what's the use of all these equipment? Didn't you say that he was fine now?" Iida asked the man curious and a bit concerned.

"After such a procedure, we need to monitor the patient for some time to make sure everything is fine and there are no complications." The surgeon explained and Iida nodded in understanding. "Anyway, please make yourselves comfortable, I will ask the nurses to bring more chairs."

"Thank you, We're sorry for the trouble." All-Might said and one could see the surgeon's face change to shock realizing whom he was talking to.

"Not at all! It's an honor to help out!" The man stammered out before making his way out having completely forgotten his own words just a moment ago.

After the man's voice died out due to distance, everyone turned their attention back to Shino he looked to be at peace with no disturbance, which gave everyone in the room much needed peace of mind. The nurses arrived with the necessary chairs and everyone sat down as they waited for Shino to wake up.

"I wonder what Shino's reaction would be when finds all here like this?" Ashido wondered with a mischievous grin.

"Ooohhh, I bet he would be so surprised! We'll be like "Surprise!", and he would be like "WHaaaat?!", I can't wait!" Even though nobody could see Hagakure's face, her body language spoke better about how excited she was.

"I know right!" Ashido replied.

"Please don't overdo it though; he is still recovering after all." Yaoyorozu had to be the voice of reason to the two girls' silliness, but everyone appreciated the change in atmosphere after.

Hours passed and the last of sun light was fading away, but Shino still refused to wake up. Eventually a doctor had to be called to check on him, only to find nothing wrong with him. Everything was in order, but Shino simply didn't wake up. And just like that, the tense atmosphere they thought they escaped returned back in full swing, but this time, they didn't even know what was wrong.

"What is wrong with Shino doctor?" Mother asked the man worried for her son not unlike everyone in the room.

"I'm not sure yet we'll have to do more examinations to figure this out, I'm gonna have to ask all to step out of the room for now. We will inform you once we're done." Everyone were ushered out of the room leaving only the doctor and nurses to do their job.

"What now?" Sero asked clearly bewildered by the current situation. Shino didn't appear to have any problems, but somehow that was the worst part.

"I don't know man, but I can't help this bad feeling I have right now." Kaminari crossed his arms while leaning on the wall.

"Don't say that! Shino is gonna be fine, I know he will." Uraraka protested not wanting lose hope.

"We hope so." The two replied.

Itsuka remained silent as the other students engaged in small talk trying to ease their anxiety and concerns, but she didn't know any of them. The most she talked with were Midoriya's group when they were following Shino, but that was the extent of their interactions. The same went for Mother and detective Hamura. At times like these, she missed Shino the most; he would always include her in everything he did, up until the Kamino incident at least. Even when his classmate were on an outing together, he invited her. He always understood what she felt and supported her in everything she did. She really wanted him back in her life as soon as possible and couldn't imagine it without him, and didn't want to even try.

"Are you alright?" Yaoyorozu said as she sat down next to Itsuka. She knew the girl from their time together under Ubawami, but that was all.

"Yeah, just missing Shino." Itsuka answered with a sad smile.

"We all do, but I'm sure you're missing him the most. If you want to talk about it, I am always available." The black-haired girl offered with a smile.

"Thanks that would be much appreciated." Itsuka was happy to find someone to talk to in Shino's absence.

"Also, I think you should get a change in clothes, you can't have Shino see you like this when he wakes up." Yaoyorozu said almost in a scolding tone and Itsuka looked down to find that she was still in her hero costume, in her worry she forgot that she was wearing it.

"Yeah well, it's not like I have a change of clothes you know." Itsuka argued.

"Then I'll call someone to bring you some right now." Was Yaoyorozu's immediate response, Itsuka was about to protest such a sudden decision, but Yaoyorozu was hearing none of it and was already calling someone.

Shortly after, a butler came with said clothes handing them to Itsuka. She glanced at Yaoyorozu who signaled her to try them. Seeing in harm in it, Itsuka went to the bathroom and changed into her new clothes, and surprisingly they fit her just right. She stepped out of the bathroom returned to the others intending to thanking Yaoyorozu.

However, her thanks would have to wait, as she found the doctor coming out of Shino's room with puzzled expression. She quickly made her way to join the group as he was about to tell them the result of the tests.

"So, what's going on doctor?" All-Might was the one to ask.

"We're not entirely sure, it could be a coma induced by blood loss, but if that was the case, he still would've woken up by now since his body didn't reject the blood we gave him and is actually quite healthy. The brain scans shows activity, which means he's in there somewhere, but it's like he's trapped or in a constant state of dreaming and doesn't know he's alive. This is the first time I've seen such a case and I don't know what to do exactly." The doctor theorized.

"So, what are you gonna do about it?" Todoroki asked a bit impatient.

"I'm sorry, but this is not something normal medical method can deal with. All I can tell you is wait and hope for the best." The doctor said with a dishearten face before leaving.

Everyone sat down around Shino silently praying for him to wake up. But the night turned to sunrise and most of them were already asleep, but Shino's condition didn't change. As much as they wanted to stay, they had to leave, the students and teachers had to return to school, Mother had to return to take care of the other kids in the orphanage, and detective Hamura had a lot of work that put aside to come here and that couldn't be delayed anymore. Only Itsuka remained by Shino's side but the others promised to come again as soon as they could.

"Come on Shino, please wake up. We're all waiting for you." Itsuka pleaded but Shino showed no reaction.

Hours turned to days and many things changed around Shino. Midoriya and the others came to visit from time to time. More machines were added to Shino's room, one to introduce the nutrients his body needed to survive, and another to get rid of waste. Kirishima and Midoriya's mentor in the workplace program, Sir Nighteye, entered the same hospital after being injured in a raid against the yakuza, where the latter took his last breath while the former made a full recovery. The only things that remained constant was Shino's refusal to wake up, and Itsuka remaining by his side. She didn't come out of the room unless necessary, the only way she got a change of clothes was when Midoriya and the others visit, even some of her classmates of 1-B came to visit from time to time.

The students of class 1-A were never the same, what happened to their friend made them realize the true danger of the profession they chose for themselves. Sure, they fought villains before and sustained injuries, but not once has one of them reached a state where their fate was unknown. And to think it would happen to one of their strongest. It was a combination of that and Shino's last words to her that drove Uraraka to finally confess her feelings to Midoriya. She didn't know what could happen next in their lives and if it was her turn next, she didn't want to go with any regrets.

To her surprise and absolute joy, Midoriya reciprocated her feelings as the two teens found comfort in each other in the midst of all the tragedies they have seen together. The joining of these two brought some much-needed joy in the class's life as their days had been filled with worry and uneasiness up to that point.

However, the day everyone feared came as everyone organized a visit to Shino hospital room, they had gotten Mother's and detective Hamura's numbers when they first met and kept in contact ever since, they contacted them to see if they'd join. The two elders accepted without a second thought and All-might and Aizawa decided to join in too. Everyone met at the entrance to the hospital entering together.

Reaching the room door, Itsuka was the one to open the door allowing them to enter. After exchanging pleasantries and finding a place to sit down, everyone turned to Itsuka.

"So, is there no change today too?" Midoriya asked.

Itsuka shook her head, "Unfortunately, nothing happened. The doctor were here just a moment ago to do some tests, but it doesn't look good." Midoriya's face lowed in disappointment but a hand intertwining with his brought his attention to Uraraka sitting next to him as she gave him a hopeful smile that help him cheer up a little as everyone around them snickered causing the two to blush.

Itsuka raised an eyebrow at this but understood the meaning behind it. She was happy for the two, but couldn't help feeling a bit jealous of the new couple.

The door to the room opened and everyone's attention went to the doctor that came in, he was a surprised to see all these people since when he came in last time, only Itsuka was there. This made him a bit nervous for some reason, more so when he noticed mother among the guests.

"You're the patient's legal guardian, correct?" The man asked addressing Mother.

"Yes, yes I am. Is there something wrong doctor?" Mother asked with a raised eyebrow.

The doctor took a deep breath before speaking, "There is something that I must discuss with you." He looked at the crowed for a moment before continuing, "Alone."

Mother followed the doctor outside the room with all eyes on them until the door was closed. The sound of them talking could barely be heard through the door. Suddenly, Mother's shouts of anger startled the group before she herself reentered the room with a furious look on her face and a crumpled piece of paper in her hand.

"What happened? What did the doctor want?" Detective Hamura asked but Mother shoved the piece of paper in his chest before making her way back to her seat and covering her face with her hands.

Everyone watched as detective Hamura spread the piece of paper and read it's contents. His eyes widened in horror, which made them even more curious about what it said.

"What does it say detective?" All-Might asked.

Detective Hamura turned to them with tears in his eyes, "They want to pull the plug on Shino."

"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted as they stood up in shock at this, Itsuka chief among them.

"They say since he hasn't shown any sign of improvement and the test don't show anything either, it's pointless to keep him here when the room could be used by other patients who need it." Mother explain with a strained voice that showed she was struggling to not cry.

"They can't do that! Shino would die if they did!" Itsuka told Mother with her own tears threatening to fall.

"Then what did that shitty doctor say then?!" Bakugo asked already prepared to demolish the entire hospital.

"He said it was way past anything he could do at this point." Mother answered in a low voice uncharacteristic of her.

"You can't be serious right now! Years in medical school and that's his answer. How can he ask such a thing?!" Kirishima slammed his fist on the wall in anger. Everyone was just as sad and troubled as him. Itsuka sat next to Shino's bed holding his hands tightly, he was right in front of her, yet far away at the same time. She's never felt so frustrated and helpless before.

"Calm down Kirishima, Bakugo, it's not the man's fault, he did everything he could, shame it wasn't enough." Aizawa said in his usual monotone voice that hid how worried and angry he actually was.

"Is there really no way to help Shino?" Uraraka wondered looking at her unconscious friend. Mother and detective Hamura looked at the group's expression then at each other and decided that since it came to this, they had to save Shino at any cost, and these people seemed to care about Shino just as much they did, maybe they can do it?

"There is a way." Detective Hamura said and everyone's attention returned to him.

"What do you mean?" Aizawa questioned the elderly man with a mix of skepticism and curiosity.

"The doctor said before that the problem is in Shino's mind, what if you get inside his mind and help him from there then?" Everyone were surprised by the idea, could such a thing be done, their answer came right away. "My quirk, mind's door, can link multiple minds together allowing whoever I use it on to enter another person's mind." The detective explained.

"Then hurry up and use it then! Send us to Shino's mind so we can bring him back!" Itsuka asked the detective, no one even wanted to question the man's words for multiple reasons as they all urged him to do it, even Midoriya had to put the million questions he had on such a quirk on hold until they get Shino back.

"But…" The group's shouts died out at that word.

"There is always a catch." Kaminari said while rolling his eyes only to get an elbow in the stomach from Jiro.

"All I can do is open a door for you to enter and exit from, I can't interfere in any way once your inside, understand. And what I'm sending will be a representation of your minds, if any damage were to happen to that representation, it will have disastrous consequences on you. It could result in you losing parts of memories or personality at best, or becoming a brain-dead husk at worst." Everyone took a step back with terrified looks now that they knew the risk involved in their endeavor, but none of them backed down.

"Even though, if it means saving Shino, than it's more than worth it." Midoriya voiced his opinion, he already had to see his mentor die in this same hospital and he wasn't gonna lose a friend too. Everyone shouted in agreement.

"Good, but that's not all." The detective had told them the risk first to see how far they were willing to go for Shino, now that they passed that test, it was time they knew the truth.

"What could there be more than this?!" Sero asked.

"Delving in someone mind means seeing their memories and thoughts too, meaning you'll be seeing Shino memories. So before that there are some things you'll need to know." Everyone raised an eyebrow in confusion, only Aizawa and All-Might knew what he was talking about.

Mother removed her hand off her face and everone turned to her, "I believe you all were told about Shino past and his scars, correct?" Everyone nodded in acknowledgement. "However, the story you've been told was only half true." Everyone's eyes widened in shock and their mouths were left a gap.

"What do you mean it's half true, did Shino lie to us?" Itsuka asked feeling a bit betrayed by such a reveal.

"It's true that Shino parents died and his house burned down, but it was no accident. His parents were killed and the house was burned down to cover the evidence." The shock doubled on everyone but a select few connected the dots and what they revealed was not pretty.

"Don't tell me it was…" Midoriya was the first to speak.

"Yes, it was Apotheosis who did all of this." Mother answered the boy's question before he finished it. "They killed his parents to get him, and they succeeded. For five years, Shino was held captive by them as they used his quirk to fund their operations and increase their influence, something that Shino blames himself for. And it's how he got all those scars, he never wanted any part of it and tried multiple times to escape and every time they caught him, they'd torture him to make sure he never tried it again."

"Their fast advance wasn't to everyone's liking however and they were attacked by a rival organization, and during that attack, Shino managed to escape. However, all those years left a heavy mark on his mind, one that he tried to erase in any way possible. And it seemed like he was gonna make it, until Apotheosis found him again, and collaborating with the league, tried to get a hold of him. You guys were caught in that crossfire, which was another thing Shino blamed himself for." Mother explained everything to Shino's friends as she held back tears remembering what he was like when she first met him. The amount of shocking information they heard was hard to comprehend all at once, some of them needed to sit down a bit.

Itsuka looked back at Shino, to think he was hiding such a past. The others remembered their talk way back during the camp, about Shino managing to smile again. Now that they knew the real story, they wondered how he even managed to face life again, after what he went through. They realized just how much pain his smile was hiding and that he finally reached his limit after the Kamino incident. But all that didn't deter them from saving their friend, but only gave them more reasons to do so.

Mother and detevice Hamura could see that in their eyes, and to say they were happy would be an understatement. Mother stood up facing all the students, "Now that you know the truth, do you still intend on exposing yourselves to danger to help Shino?" She asked the group.

"Yeah!" Everyone shouted in unison.

"That damn Goldie Lox still owes me a rematch, he's not allowed to go anywhere until I get it!" Bakugo's absurd reason made everyone laugh even though he wasn't joking.

"Thank you. Thank you all." Mother said as she wiped the tears of her eye with a huge smile on her face.

Everyone were thinking the same thing at that moment, _"Wait for us Shino, no matter what happens, we'll save you!_'

**Thank you for reading.**


	33. Chapter 33

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters. Any OC or idea you like are free for use, all I ask is that you send me a link to the story if you are writing one.**

**AN: Here it is, the las chapter. I never thought it will take me all this time to finish the story, but I guess it time. I just wasn't to thank everyone reading this chapter. I made mistakes writing this story and there was definitely some lost potential, but as I said in the very beginning, this was first and foremost, a learning experience, I wanted to try my hands at writing a story to see if I could translate my ideas into words. Thanks to all the support and advice I got from many people, I think I learned a lot. All in all, I think this story achieved its purpose and I'm glad I decided to write it.**

**Chapter 33**

Everyone sat down around Shino as detective Hamura got ready to use his quirk to send them on their way to retrieve the lost boy.

"A final reminder, however real it seems in there, it's all memories. You can't interact with them or change them no matter what you do." The detective warned them.

"Then how are you supposed to find Shino?" Itsuka asked.

"You don't have to find him, what I will send you to is his subconscious. Memories are like a layer that surrounds the subconscious; you'll have to go through them to get there. It also means you won't see every memory he has, just the one at the part of the layer you'll go through. People display their memories in a different way, so I have no idea what Shino's mind will show you. But I can communicate with you guys in order to pull you out once you've finished your mission." The detective explained.

Midoriya was kinda shaking in his seat with how many questions he had for the detective about his quirk, but he had to hold it in, he can ask the detective however he wants after getting Shino back. To distract himself, he looked at All-Might, as you do, only to find him and Aizawa not sitting but standing next to the door of the room, which was strange to him.

"Hey is All-Might and Mr. Aizawa coming with us?" He asked the detective.

"No we're not." All-Might answered him instead.

"Even if it's to save Shino, what you problem children are doing is considered illegal use of a quirk by the law." Aizawa followed. "We can't allow others to find what we're up to. Detective Hamura will be busy with you, and Miss Hina won't be enough to stop the doctors and nurses from coming in. But with our status as heroes, I and All-Might can hold them off until you return." And just like, the students realized another risk to what they're about to do, something that Aizawa took notice of. "Don't give that look. Just finish this fast and no one is gonna be the wiser. I believe I taught you before that in rescue missions, speed and efficiency are key, just apply this here." This was the closest to a motivational speech they were gonna get out the underground hero, but it was enough.

They turned to detective Hamura, "We're ready detective." Midoriya announced to the detective who nodded in response.

"I'm ready on my part too." The detective said before approaching the boy and placing his index finger on his forehead and then pulling it back, a faint blue string came out along with it. Midoriya started to feel sleepier the more the string was stretched and as he started to lose consciousness, he could see the detective moving to the next person.

When Midoriya woke up, he saw nothing, or to be or precise, there was nothing to see, he was standing in complete darkness. Not two seconds passed and Uraraka appeared in front of him and the rest of his class and Itsuka followed right behind her. They all had the same reaction as he did when they saw where they were.

"Is this Shino's mind?" Ashido questioned.

"I expected more from him to be honest." Kaminari said with a disappointed sigh.

"We're not here for sight-seeing you idiot, we're here to find Shino." Jiro scolded the electric teen.

"Good, you're all here then. Then I will open the pathway now." The detective's voice sounded in everyone's ears but he was nowhere to be found which startled some of them.

"Fuck! Don't just start talking in my head like that!" Bakugo shouted in annoyance.

"I already told I'll communicating with you, what did you expect that would mean?" The detective replied. "Anyway, a door or gateway should appear any moment now." Suddenly a big wooden door appeared in front of the group. "This will be your means of getting in and out of Shino's mind. As I said before, past this door are some of Shino's memories so be prepared." The group approached the door and opened it. A bright light came through blinded them forcing them to close their eyes. When they opened their eyes once more, they found themselves in a burning and crumpling house.

"What the hell is this? Where are we?" Hagakure asked as her body moved franticly showing distress. Koda too was getting scared by the scene.

"A burning house? Don't tell me we're at Shino's memory of losing his parents?" Itsuka deduced.

"Already? We just got here!" Ashido exclaimed.

"Speaking of which, since this is Shino's memory, where is Shino?" Yaoyorozu questioned.

Almost on que, they all heard a loud thud not far from where they were. Immediately they all ran towards the sound.

"What was that just now, ribbit?" Tsu asked as they made their way through the house's corridors.

"Don't know but in this situation, it can't be anything good." Midoriya said.

"Everyone keep a look out for Shino and we must stay together, we still don't know the entire situation." Iida instructed the rest of his friends, but he did so, he failed to notice the wall he was running at with full speed.

"Iida watch out!" Uraraka tried to warn him but it was too late as he collided with the wall. However, instead falling backwards or smashing through the wall, he went through it without leaving a sign he was even there.

The others stared at the wall in bewilderment before it clicked in their heads. "So we're like spectators, we're here but we're not, and can't interact with anything, even a wall." Todoroki said while pinching his chin.

"That's right. In Shino's memory you're like ghosts." The detective's voice informed them.

"Why hasn't Iida come out yet then?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"Let's follow him and see, maybe he found Shino." Itsuka said as she went through the wall as well.

The others followed only to find Iida and Itsuka staring at a horrible scene that was unfolding before them. The first thing that caught their attention was the two adult bodies covered in blood with the male one having a gaping hole in his chest while the female was covered in scratch wounds with the skin around the wounds having a green color. It was obvious to the spectators that these bodies were lifeless.

"Mommy….Daddy….wake up….Come on please wake up." A child's cries brought everyone's attention to the child laying on the ground in front of the two dead bodies.

He had short blond hair that was covered sooth; his clothes were ripped at places in burned in others. His eyes couldn't be seen because of his crying. However, he had one thing everyone recognized immediately, golden gloves. "Is that…Shino?" Uraraka asked no one her eyes still widened by the horrible sight.

"They won't wake up you stupid child." A voice Itsuka recognized very well came as Minotaur entered the room destroying the door in the process and almost reaching the ceiling.

"What the hell is that?!" Kaminari asked in exasperation while pointing at Minotaur.

"That's Minotaur, one of Apotheosis's top executives and a despicable bastard." Itsuka answered his question with gritted teeth. She already hated the guy, but seeing this made her wish she beat him even harder during their confrontation.

"**They're dead.**" Minotaur's voice was booming at that sentence that the group had to cover their ears to prevent them from exploding.

Young Shino looked up at the villain with tears covering his horrified face, "Dead?...No they can't be dead, they can't. You're lying!" The idea of losing his parents was clearly something the child's mind couldn't comprehend or accept.

The people watching this unfold weren't much better, many of them were either holding back tears, or holding themselves back from lunging at the villain. Entering this place, they had mentally prepared themselves to face whatever they saw, they knew they could do nothing since it was a memory but seeing their friend suffering like this was just too much to take silently.

"Stop whining, it's your fault they're dead anyway." Minotaur said with an irritated face.

"M-My fault." Shino said in a raspy voice his crying stopping as the idea was planted in his mind.

"Like hell it fucking is!" Bakugo shouted angered by the twisted logic.

"How cruel do you have to be to kill someone's parents and tell them it was their fault?" Jiro asked.

Minotaur put on a sadistic grin, "Yeah, they died protecting you. But now that they're gone, you're coming with us." He took a step towards Shino who in turn crawled backwards trying to get out of the monster's reach.

"No stay away from me. Leave me alone. No NOOOOOOOO!" Shino screamed terrified before Minotaur's fist slammed into his small body sending him into the wall on the room's ide.

"Shino NO! You bastard! Stay away from him!" Itsuka couldn't take it anymore. She lunged at the huge bull-faced villain with enlarged fist and tried to punch him, only for her fist to go through harmlessly. That didn't stop her from making more rage-fueled attempts at Minotaur's head as he walked to pick up Shino's pain-riddled body. Everyone watched with pained looks, they couldn't stop her because if they did move, it would be to join her, and they all knew it was pointless.

Itsuka finally gave up on punching Minotaur and fell to her knees in defeat, she knew from the beginning she couldn't stop it, but after trying and failing, it was mortifying.

Minotaur picked Shino up and checked if he was still conscious. Somehow, his consciousness held on if by a hair. "You're one annoying brat you know that." Minotaur said while lightly slapping Shino's cheeks. "If it wasn't an order from the boss, I would've just killed you and been done with it, but useful to us so you get to live." The room around them was starting to crumble as the fire at away at the foundation.

"What's taking you so long? Are you done here yet?" A voice Itsuka didn't recognize came as Medusa entered through the hole that was the room's entrance.

"And who's that now?" Ashido asked taking a step backwards.

"I don't know but it's clear that she with Apotheosis. maybe a former member or something." Itsuka said.

"This dirty place is falling apart already and the boss is done waiting for you." Medusa scolded her partner while holding her left arm with her right hand as it was visibly bleeding.

"I'm done so shut up and let's meet the boss." Minotaur said as he walked past her with Shino in hand.

As she turned around to leave, she noticed the female body on the ground and scowled, "Damn bitch, serves you right for wounding me, I hope your death was painful." The spectators didn't take kindly to this remark but could do nothing about it.

The two villains exited the house with Itsuka and the others following them. Right outside stood Volturnus wearing his black suit and looking very impatient.

"Is that the Volturnus you told us about Itsuka?" Midoriya asked and could see from her hateful eyes that yes indeed he was the one who put Shino in this condition to begin with.

"Have you acquired what we came for?" He asked his two subordinates.

"Yes boss, we have it." Minotaur said before nudging his shoulder where Shino's barely conscious body was hanging on.

"How could they treat Shino like an object like this?" Yaoyorozu questioned disgusted by what she's seeing.

"They believe humans are a lower species for them to exploit and use as they please." Itsuka answered with anger clear in her voice.

"Then let us get out of here, the police and firefighters must be on their way." Volturnus turned around to leave with Minotaur and Medusa right behind him.

Everybody watched as Shino's final moments of consciousness were filled with the image of his house burning down. And with him finally losing consciousness, the memory ended and everything started to fade away and turn to smoke.

"This was the first memory and it's already heart-breaking. How many of these will we have to see?" Kirishima said looking at the ground with folded fists, the others weren't any better, especially Itsuka.

"Listen everyone." The detective's voice sounded again, "I know that it's hard on you to see this, but remember that these are all just memories, a past that can't be changed. Don't focus on the past and keep your eyes on the present, right now we need to reach Shino." Although they didn't like it, they knew the detective was right, and so they picked themselves up and readied for whatever came next.

The smoke from the previous memory didn't go away, instead changing color and reforming again into a new memory. As everything started to take a solid form, the rescue group found themselves in dimly lit corridor made completely out of stone. Itsuka recognized the similar design and knew where they were right now, although this one was noticeably bigger in scale.

"Where are we?" Todoroki asked looking around with a feeling of uneasiness.

"This is probably Apotheosis's hideout when they had Shino." She answered him, which caused the others to look around as well.

However, once all the area was fully formed, all eyes were focus on one thing, a big cell room that was only lit by the lights from the corridor and a small window which didn't do much in terms of revealing what was in it, but they had a few guesses.

"Could this be what I think it is?" Sero asked his friends while pointing at the cell.

"One way to find out." Midoriya was the first to enter the cell phasing through the pars as if they didn't exist, or he didn't. The others followed him, but Itsuka was a bit hesitant.

'_Remember, this is just a memory. No matter what happens, you must stay vigilant and focused, for Shino._' Itsuka recited these words as she entered the cell.

Now that they were inside, they could see that the cell was mostly empty, but a shuffling sound brought their attention to the other side of the room where they found Shino, sitting in one of the corners with quirk-negating handcuffs on him.

He was still wearing the same clothes he wore when they saw him being kidnapped but they were a more tight fit now indicating this was a while since that incident, he already had visible scars on his hands and legs and much skinny figure, he didn't have his gloves on. What struck them most was the look in his eyes, a scowl reminiscent of the on had in the past few days, and a storm of anger and hate could be seen in the blue orbs like a raging sea that wouldn't calm down.

"God damn it! What more is he supposed to through?" Iida asked furious.

"It's like Kendo said, they don't view him as anything but a tool, and keeping just barely alive to do their bidding but not quite enough to resist is part of that." Todoroki said with a sad expression.

The sound of the cell door opening and someone entering alarmed everyone and they turned to see whom it was, only to find Minotaur and two other members of Apotheosis holding all kind of objects from car parts to furniture. Shino stared into his captor and if the anger and hate in Shino's eyes could be projected, Minotaur would've been dead the second he entered.

"Not him again!" Sero exclaimed with a fearful look.

"What does he want from Shino? And what's with all the random stuff?" Hagakure asked as she slid next to Ojiro.

"I think he want Shino to use his quirk on these to turn them into gold." The tailed boy deduced.

"So he's not here to hurt him?" The invisible girl asked.

"We can't tell just yet, but hopefully he doesn't, ribbit" Tsu answered her question.

Minotaur latterly walked through the crowd and dropped what he was carrying in front of Shino, who eyed them for a bit before returning his gaze back to Minotaur. "It's time again brat!" The bull man said annoyed by the task he was given.

"No I'm not helping you people, I won't do it!" Shino shouted defiantly to the best of his ability.

Minotaur smiled at this and hit his fist in his palm as he walked towards Shino who had nowhere to run, "Again with this shit? You still haven't realized that you don't get a say in this? You're just a pathetic little kid. It seems we must remind you of your true worth." He said before laughing manically, it was clear that he actually wanted this.

"Unfortunately, it seems like the worst has come to pass." Tokoyami said regretfully and everyone braced themselves for what was about to happen.

"Fucking cowards!" Bakugo shouted.

Minotaur sent a punch at Shino, but to everyone's surprise, including Minotaur, Shino made himself fall to the side to avoid the punch.

"Way to go Shino!" Kaminari cheered. But in that position, Shino couldn't avoid the kick Minotaur gave him in the stomach knocking the wind out of him and probably breaking a few bones. Kaminari's cheers died out instantly replaced by cringing from everyone.

"You think you're smart or something brat?" Minotaur asked as he picked up Shino by the arm before removing the cuffs and throwing him into the pile of objects. "Start your job and finish quickly!"

Things started turning to gold at the slightest touch from Shino hand. However, after everything was turned, the gold started to melt and mend together and suddenly and tendril sprouted out of the pile and lunged at Minotaur. "DIE! You bastard!" Shino shouted in anger with tears streaming down his face as stood on top of the pile.

However, Minotaur didn't move, he didn't even interested in defending against the attack. Just the tendril was about to reach him, it stopped and Shino fell to on the ground.

"How pathetic, do you really think that we'd allow you to have enough stamina to fight back?" Minotaur sounded offended.

Because Shino couldn't move, Minotaur walked up to him and cuffed him once again before throwing his body back where it was when came in. Everyone winced when Shino slammed into the wall. "You two carry that gold out of here!" Minotaur ordered the two goons who quickly moved to take the newly created gold out of the cell, he then turned again to Shino and threw something in front of him.

"This is your food for the day." Minotaur said before leaving the cell and closing the door behind him. What he threw to Shino was a small and dry piece of bread that had started to rot.

"That's his food for the day?!" Kirishima asked in disbelief, "That wouldn't even count as a snack! And is that mold on it?! What the hell is this?!"

"That explains Shino's appearance." Todoroki said.

Shino righted himself using the wall to support him, after getting in a comfortable enough position; he grabbed the bread and started eating it.

"At least it doesn't seem like he lost the will to fight despite the enemy's best efforts." Tokoyami noted.

"But how can he get out of here?" Sero asked. His answer came when Shino finished eating. He grabbed one of the stones from the broken wall then ripped a part of his shirt revealing some more light scars. Using the stone, he started drawing on the piece of fabric.

"What is he drawing?" Itsuka asked as she and the others gathered around the little boy to see what he was doing.

"Is that…a map?" Iida asked surprised.

"It looks like a map." Uraraka said. From what they could gather, Shino was drawing a map of the hideout.

After finishing the drawing, Shino held the map in front of him with dissatisfied look, "It's still far from complete. I couldn't find the where the exit should be. It looks like I will have to find a way to make a few more prison breaks. Best case scenario, I find the exit and manage to escape, otherwise, I have to keep memorizing the layout of this place until I can find it." He tucked the map in the pocket of his pants and laid on the ground presumably to sleep. "Just you wait; I will take my revenge on you Apotheosis. I will make you regret everything." He said as his eyes closed and the memory started to fade once again.

"Forget about not giving up! He fighting back!" Sero exclaimed.

"Yes, but we know that he will have to suffer before he manages to escape." Tokoyami reminded him.

"But he still make it out in the end, so we know that he endures. And so should we." Midoriya says and everyone nods in agreement.

Itsuka looked back at the sleeping Shino before he too faded to smoke and smiled, '_Good job Shino, we'll meet soon I promise._'

Just like before, the smoke reforms into a new memory, but the group found themselves again in the same cell they were in moments ago.

"Again here?" Uraraka asked with uneasiness growing in her.

"Where is Shino?" Itsuka asked looking around the cell to locate the boy. She turned around and everyone followed her gaze.

There sat Shino looking older looking to be about seven years old now, so two years after his kidnapping. He wasn't wearing his old clothes anymore, instead he was wearing a dirty rag that went down to just below his knees. He looked much more ruffed up and everyone could notice that the number of scars on his body has much increased. The only things that didn't change was the look on his eyes and the handcuffs around his hands.

Minotaur entered the cell and behind him was Slimy, the others didn't recognize him of course, but they recognized Minotaur and knew he didn't bring good news with him. "Hey brat! We have a new assignment for you!" The bull-faced villain called out to Shino who didn't respond still just glaring at him.

"Oh don't give me that look; you get to meet other people." Minotaur said with his sadistic smile.

"W-What?" Shino finally responded with a doubtful and fearful look on his face. There was no way they were doing this out the goodness of their hearts since they had none. The others watching this had similar looks.

All their fears were sadly confirmed when Minotaur dropped a girl's body in front of Shino. The girl was bloody and beat up, scars not much different to Shino's riddled her body, she didn't appear that much older than him and if it wasn't for the raspy and a pained breathes she took every few seconds, one would think she was long dead already. The sight made most of the U.A. students look away.

"W-What h-happened to her?" Shino asked as he crawled backwards until he hit the wall behind him.

"That's none of your business, now do your magic." The meaning behind Minotaur's words made Shino's eyes widen in horror.

"W-What? You d-don't mean…" He didn't even want to finish that sentence, much less do as the villain ordered.

"Yep, now do it!" Minotaur confirmed his assumptions with an impatient order.

"They can't be asking him to use her quirk on her can they?" Itsuka asked with tears on the edge of eyes and her hands covering her mouth, but the answer was clear to everyone.

"There is no way Shino's gonna do it, no way!" Iida shouted in anger.

"But does he even have the choice? How can he oppose them in his current state?" Todoroki laid the hard truth on everyone.

"So we're just gonna watch our friend murder someone?" Iida asked still furious at the situation.

"Beat it through that thick skull of yours four-eyes! This is a memory, it already happened and there is nothing we can do about it!" Bakugo reminded Iida of where they stood. Iida looked around at his classmates; all of them had faces of resignation. He grit his teeth in frustration.

"Damn it."

Shino couldn't believe what was being asked of him, "NO! That's murder! I won't do it, I don't care if you kill me, but I'll never kill!" He shouted at his captors with tears streaming down his face.

"If you don't like the word murder that much don't call it that, let's call it recycling, not like it matters what you think, you're gonna do it whether you like it or not. Slimy get over here, I soften him for ya and you do the rest." To call killing someone recycling as if they were trash. The amount of disregard Minotaur and his organization had for human life made everyone watching sick to their stomach. To call killing someone recycling as if they were trash.

"Roger that!" Slimy answered with a joyful voice.

"NO stay away! Please don't make me do it! PLEASE!" Shino's cries did nothing to stop Minotaur from punching him in the stomach before the gooey creature invaded his body. Everybody cringed at the sight, Midoriya and Bakugo especially since they knew exactly how that feels.

After Slimy was finished taking over Shino's body, he forced him to move towards the girl with shaky steps like a baby learning how to walk for the first time. The worst part was that Shino was conscious the whole time, but lacked any strength to fight back, all he could do was close his crying eyes and wait for the inevitable.

Minotaur removed the cuffs and Slimy forced Shino to touch the girl's foot, from there the girl started to slowly turn into gold. Everyone expected her to scream in pain or at least attempt to, but she looked at peace with it, almost happy, something Shino didn't see because of his closed eyes.

The process didn't take long and Slimy released Shino's body after Minotaur had cuffed him once again. They picked up the now golden statue of the girl and walked out without a word leaving a devastated Shino behind.

"What are they gonna do with that girl now?" Uraraka asked Midoriya.

"I don't know exactly, but at least now they can't hurt her anymore. Shino gave her that, even if he believes he killed her. The green-haired boy said in an uncharacteristically somber tone.

"I'm sorry." Shino's voice returned everyone's attention to his unmoving body. "I didn't want to do it, I didn't want to. I'm sorry." They watched as he tormented himself unable to do anything to help.

Itsuka walked to Shino and sat in front of him, she placed her hand just above his head, "Don't worry, you'll make it out of here, and then you'll become a great hero. So don't lose hope." She knew her words won't reach the boy but it was something she had to say, to settle her own heart.

As Shino cried himself to sleep, the memory faded away. However, this time the smoke started to dissipate, and just like the group found themselves surrounded by darkness once again.

"What? Is it over? Is that all?" Kaminari asked.

"Yes, you've done a great so far." The detective congratulated them. "But now comes the real deal." A different door appeared in front of the group, much bigger and grandiose than the previous one. "Beyond this door is Shino sub-consciousness where a representation of his mind should be there. If we can make him realize his situation, I'm sure this would help Shino wake up."

Without a single word, everyone approached the door being engulfed by the light that came from the other side once it opened. When they opened their eyes, they found themselves surround by lush grass extending for as far as the eye can reach, above them was a night sky illuminated by countless stars and a full moon shining brightly. The scenery was breath taking to say the least.

"This is so beautiful!" Uraraka exclaimed as she spun around.

"Is this really Shino's mind?" Todoroki asked as he looked at the stars above them.

"It should be." Yaoyorozu answered stepping next to him, but there was a question written on her face.

"Then where is Shino?" Iida voiced that question. Everyone started looking around for their friend when they noticed a big lake in the distance, at the edge of that lake was figure crouching down.

They all ran towards the figure and the more they got closer, the more the figure gained more details and the more it became clearer that it was indeed Shino, he was wearing his school uniform for some reason.

"Shino!" Itsuka shouted catching the unassuming boy by surprise before tackling him with a hug.

"Itsuka?!" Shino called out surprised and saw the rest of his class on their way as well, "Everyone…what the hell is happening here? How did you all come here?" his question were halted when Itsuka tightened her hug.

"I missed you so much." She said and he could hear her sobbing so although he still was confused and had a lot of question, he smiled and hugged her back.

"I missed you too."

The two remained like that for a short while but separated when the others finally reached them. Shino received more hugs from his friends; including an awkward one from Todoroki that made Ashido wish she had her phone right now, all the while Itsuka was holding Shino's hand and never letting go. After that, it was time Shino got an answer to his questions. "Okay now that is out of the way, can any of you tell me what is going on here? How did you come here?" Everyone exchanged glances before turning their gaze back to a confused Shino.

"It doesn't matter how we came here. What matters is that we're here to get you out." Midoriya said but that only added to Shino's confusion.

"Out? Aren't I dead?" He asked.

"No you're not; you've been in a coma for a while now." Itsuka explained.

"Well, that explains a lot, this doesn't look like any kind of hell I heard of." Shino said looking around, he didn't that happy about though, everyone just assumed it was due to the surprise. "But that still doesn't explain why and how you guys are here."

"Since you've been in a coma with no sign of when you'd wake up, or if you'll wake up, the doctors wanted to pull the plug on you, so we had to do something about it." Todoroki said.

Shino looked down at the ground, "So if I don't wake up now, I never wake up?" Shino inquired and everyone nodded. "Good. Then let's keep it that way." Shino let go of Itsuka's hand and turned back to the lake and sat down leaving the others in complete shock and confusion.

"Shino, what are you talking about? Don't you get it? If you stay here, you'll die!" Itsuka tried to make him understand the danger.

"I understand that fully well, that was the goal of all of this from the beginning." Shino said in a sad tone. Itsuka took a step back; she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She turned to the others to find they had similar expressions of disbelief. Seeing no reason to hide it now, Shino decided to tell them the truth, "The mission against Apotheosis, to me it was suicide mission with only one of two options, I either die fighting them, or I win and then leave everything behind to find a place to live the rest of my days alone. Who would've thought there was a third option?" The realization finally dawned on the group; it wasn't just that Shino couldn't wake up, he didn't want to wake up.

"What kind of bullshit are you saying?" Bakugo shouted at Shino with an enraged look before grabbing Shino by his shirt. "We came all the way over here to get your ass out, and you don't wanna get out? Are fucking with me?" he looked into Shino's eyes but all he could see was defeat, he let go of Shino and walked away. "A waste of my time that's what this all is now! I thought you were someone worth defeating, but guess I was wrong."

Iida walked up to Shino, "Shino please explain this, what do you mean that you wanted this?"

"What is there to explain Iida, I just told you all you need to know." Iida was hearing the words coming out of Shino's mouth but couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Itsuka pushed Iida aside and grabbed Shino by the shoulder "What are you saying? What about your goal to become a hero? What about the brothers and sisters? And Miss Hana? And detective Hamura? What about us?" She kept asking while shaking Shino.

Shino looked away, "It's better for everyone if I didn't exist, but since I can't change that, the next best thing was to make sure I don't cause you any problems in the future. I am no hero, what kind of hero causes the death and injury of hundreds by just existing?" He turned to Itsuka and looked her in the eyes, his own eyes barely holding his tears and moved her arms away from him, "I think you all should leave now, I'm sorry that I can't be with you anymore, but you all have a bright future ahead of you. You shouldn't waste your time on me, it's not worth it; I'm not worth it."

"What are you talking about?" Midoriya stood next to Itsuka. "What about your future? Are you just gonna give up on it? How could you ask us to leave you like this?"

"I'm saying this for your own good Midoriya. I don't have a future, that was taken from me a long time ago, it just took a while to discover that, and I'm tired of fighting a war I know I can't win. But I know you will achieve great things, so please just forget about me and go."

"There is no way I can do that." Itsuka said, her hair was covering up her eyes so Shino couldn't see them. "I will never let go of you ever again Shino. I don't care what you say, my future is with you." She raised her face and now that Shino could see them, her eyes were filled with determination; she was serious in what she said.

"And She's not the only one." Midoriya and Uraraka stood next to Itsuka, then Iida, Todoroki, and Tsu came next.

"Don't forget about us." The rest of class 1-A came together, all with the same determined eyes Itsuka had, even Bakugo was in the back.

Shino was overwhelmed by his friends' will to save him, it truly made him happy to have met them all, but he knew they would only suffer for it, and he didn't want that. "Guys please don't make this difficult; I'm trying to protect you, nothing good will come from being near me." He tried to dissuade them but they wouldn't budge.

"Who asked for your fucking protection? We can take care of ourselves just fine." Bakugo said from the back.

Shino didn't want to say this but he needed to convince them to leave him, "You don't understand! You've already suffered enough because of me! Some of you could've died back at the camp, and it was all my fault! Apotheosis wanted me and gave the league the location of the camp in exchange of getting me." Shino's eyes couldn't hold back his tears anymore. "It was my fault all those people lost their lives and their loved ones. If I didn't exist, none of this would've happened! So please, just let me at least atone for all of this with my life."

"We know all of that Shino." Shino's eyes widened by Itsuka's words.

"You know?" He asked to make sure he heard right and it's not his brain playing tricks on him.

"Yes, your mother and detective Hamura told us everything." Midoriya said. "In order to come here, we also had to see some of your memories; we know what Apotheosis forced you to do. But even with all that, we came to save you, and we would do it all over again if we had to."

Shino's eyes widened at hearing that. They saw his memories? They knew what he had done? All of Shino's questions converged into one question that loomed in his mind, "Why? If you really know what I did, what crimes I committed, then you should know that I don't deserve saving. Why would you do this for me then?"

"It's because none of that matters." Itsuka said with a smile. "In our eyes, you did nothing wrong Shino, it wasn't your fault to begin with, there is nothing for you to atone for." These words shook Shino to his core, for the longest time, he held inside him the belief that it was his fault, that he had to make up for all those he wronged, but know Itsuka was telling him that he didn't have to, could she be right? Could he really be allowed to live?

All these thoughts swirling in Shino's mind came to a halt when clapping could be heard in the distance. Everyone looked to where the sound was originating. A figure walked to the group and as it got closer, they could see that it was another Shino. This one had a huge smile on his face.

"**What a wonderful speech this was, I was almost moved to tears you know.**" The voice was familiar to Shino.

"Who's that guy? And why does he look like Shino's evil clone?" Kaminari asked but no one had the answer.

"You…" Shino stood up glaring at his replica.

"You know this guy Shino?" Sero asked while pointing at the other Shino.

"**Of course he does, we've been together for a while now. haven't we Shino?**" Shino didn't answer. "**But I gotta say; you guys are really persistent. Even after I showed you the worst of Shino's memories, you still managed to come here, impressive.**"

"So you're the reason the only memories we've seen were of Shino's torture?" Kirishima said as he activated his quirk, he didn't know who this was, but he was definitely not a friend.

"**Indeed I was, but it seems I underestimated you people. I guess I'll have to be more forceful in dealing with this.**" Gold started to come out through the fake Shino's skin covering him completely and creating a huge golden egg. Not much after it's creation, it started to shaking and crake until it broke off with an explosion that pushed everyone back.

When they looked back at it, they found a huge monster staring them down. It was completely made out of gold and had six arms with the upper two each holding a sword, one of the middle pair held a spear while the other held a shield; the lower pair didn't hold anything. It also had three crocodile heads with bull horn coming out of them and a tail that split at the end to three snakes.

"What the hell is that?!" Kaminari exclaimed gesturing to the monster.

"**Now that I slipped into something more comfortable, this is you final warning, either get out of here, or die.**" The voice of the fake Shino came through one of the heads of the monster.

"How about we kick your ass instead?!" Bakugo said with small explosions crackling at his balms, everyone except Shino took fighting stances. Shino stood in front of them with his hands extended to the side.

"Guys stop, just do as he says and go away, you can't win and there is no need for you to risk your lives for me." Despite warnings, they all moved past him with confident smiles.

"You've risked your life for us before, why can't we do the same. Don't worry we'll get rid of this guy easily." Itsuka said.

"**Die it is then, suit yourselves then.**" The monster moved his upper arms and slashed at the ground but everyone managed to avoid it.

Bakugo used small explosions to climb to the monster's face but it moved the hand that held the spear to meet mid-air. With how big it was, Bakugo would've found it hard to avoid it, thankfully he didn't have to since Todoroki locked the arm with an ice attack. While the others attacked at the legs, Bakugo and Todoroki released a combined fire attack at the face.

Everyone quickly fell back to see whither their assault was any good. But the monster didn't even wait for the smoke to dissipate before attacking them full force with a hail of golden arrows from one of his two lower hands. This forced them to scatter as everyone tried to dodge the enemy's counter attack.

Unfortunately, the arrows were strong enough to shatter the ground upon impact, which made finding a stable place to move on very challenging. Such tuff luck befell Yaoyorozu when she fell to the ground after narrowly avoiding an arrow. Wasting no time, the monster swung his sward once again at her with the aim to kill.

"**Looks like you're gonna be the first blood!**" No one was close enough to help Yaoyorozu in time and as the blade came closer, she closed her eyes and prepared for the strike to come, but it didn't.

She opened her eyes to see Shino in front of her with his hand stretched to the front. In front of him was the monster, seemingly unable to move.

"Stop this already." Shino said.

"**What do you think you're doing?**" The monster asked Shino for an explanation.

"Have you forgotten why we did what we did? It was to protect them." Shino said gesturing to his friends. "I can't allow you to hurt them anymore than we already did."

"**Can't allow me? HAHAHAHAHAHA!**" the monster laughed similarly to how Minotaur would laugh. "**It seems you forgot who's in charge here.**" The monster started shaking. "**Did their words appeal to you that much? Made you feel like you can have your life back? Did you forget whose fault it was they had to risk their lives to come here?**" It managed to take a step forward while making Shino step back. "**You're just a selfish coward that kept running away from his mistakes.**" Another step forward. "**If you didn't selfishly decide that you wanted to be a hero under some delusion that you could atone for what you did, the kamino incident wouldn't have happened and none of those people would've died.**" Shino backed away again his expression showing panic. "**If you didn't have that vile quirk, Apotheosis wouldn't have gotten that stronger and killed more people.**" Shino fell on his back as he was trying to back away and the monster stood over him looking down. "**If you weren't born, mom and dad wouldn't have been killed, but since you want to die that much, I'll grant you your wish right now.**" The monster raised his sward preparing to strike Shino down.

"You're wrong!" Itsuka stood between the monster and Shino. "Shino is no coward! He's a wonderful person, and it wasn't his fault that any of that happened." Shino looked at her surprised.

"Itsuka move out of the way or you'll get hurt!" Yelled at her to move but she wouldn't.

"No, I told you already. My future is with you Shino, if it's gonna strike you, then it will have to go through me first."

"And us too." Midoriya and Uraraka came to Itsuka's side. "Shino was one of my first friends at U.A., he was always supportive and kind to me giving me advice with a smile and helping me whenever I needed him. I'm not gonna let you hurt him anymore." Midoriya said.

"He was the first person to call me a friend." Todoroki came next. "And thanks to him, I was able to reconnect with my mother again."

"He helped when my brother was injured." Iida came next to Todoroki. "Even when I lashed out at him and lied to him, he still came to my aid and forgave me."

The rest of class 1-A followed suit as they gathered in front of Shino creating a huge shield to protect their friend. "He was worked hard to be an example for all of us and never once did he complain when the title of vice-president was thrown at him. Thanks to him, we managed to survive the USJ incident but he never acted arrogant or tried to take credit for it. He worked hard to mend the relation between us and class 1-B even when we kept worsening it."

Itsuka turned to Shino, "You told me before that a hero should inspire others to act. Well, you inspired many already, not just class 1-A, but even the my class. Since that speech of yours, they've been working hard to make themselves better, even Monoma. If that doesn't make you a hero, then I don't know what does." Shino offered her hand to Shino and he stared at it with wide eyes.

He then looked to Itsuka "Is it really okay? Is it really okay for me to live, despite everything I did?"

"Of course silly, you have people who love you no matter what and are waiting for you to return after all. Can't let them down now can you?" Shino looked back at her still extended hand, and made his decision; he took her hand and stood up next to his friends.

"I guess I can't."

"**Hmph, so what if these fools forgave you for what you did, all the people that you've hurt will never forgive you. I'm their hatred and vengeance and it's time for you to pay!**" The monster tried to swing his sword down, but it wouldn't move. In fact, he couldn't move his whole body. "**What did you do to me you brat?!**"

"Nothing, my mind just recognized that you are an unneeded, unwanted part of it that has no business showing its ugly head here." The monster body started to crumple and fall apart from the feet up.

"**You think you'll get rid of me? Dream on! I might be unwanted now, but there will be a time when I return, when your friends eventually leave you after they've had enough. I will be waiting.**" Those were its final words before completely turning to dust leaving behind a small glowing orb that made its way to Shino's heart and entered it.

Shino then turned to his friends, with a smile that he thought long lost to him. "I guess I made all worry too much haven't I?"

"You don't know the half of it!" Itsuka exclaimed hugging Shino tightly as the others cheered and celebrated their friend's return.

"Sorry about that, I will make it up to you later, I thinking Italian food, what do you say?" Shino offered.

"Sounds great." Itsuka said, she was content with anything as long as she got Shino back.

"Can you include us in that offer?" Ashido asked with a hopeful smile as everyone waited for Shino's answer.

"Of course, that's the least I can do for the heroes that saved me." The celebrations came back even stronger now that food was involved. "This would make the second time you saved my life Itsuka." Shino stated which drew confused looks from everyone around him, including Itsuka herself.

"Figures he wouldn't show you this memory." Shino extended hand out and a projection appeared in front of the group.

In the projection displayed a first person view of someone running in an alleyway, their breathing was low and their steps were uneven like someone on their last breath. "This is me after I managed to escape Apotheosis's hideout. After I made it out, I kept running as fast as I could. I didn't care to where as long as it was far from there." Just when the end of the alleyway could be seen, the view suddenly fell to ground level, "That's when I could move anymore out of exhaustion, I had push my already weak body to it's limit and was about pass out. But I was saved." The screen started becoming blurry and black dotes appeared at the edges, that's when someone came at the end of the alleyway. Their face couldn't be seen, but they had some distinguishable traits, long orange hair and white gi the person approached the fallen Shino but the memory ended right then and there. "I passed out, and the next time I woke up was in the hospital surrpunded by police officers, and detective Hamura. I was told later on that this person was the one who found me and called the cops. Care to guess who it was?"

Nobody needed a second guess on that, it was clear that it was Itsuka. She looked at Shino with still finding it hard to believe.

"I can't believe it! That was you! How couldn't I recognize you before?" She said holding her head with her hands.

"I did change a lot from back then. But the truth is, you saved my life Itsuka."

"Aww, it's like you were fated to meet once again" Ashido and Hagakure said in unison.

"I don't know about fate, but I sure am glad to meet her." Shino said looking Itsuka in the eyes.

"Me too." Itsuka said looking back at Shino.

"Can we cut the lovey-dovey shit and get out of here already! You're making me puke!" Bakugo interrupted the moment.

"He's right." Itsuka let go of Shino. "I guess we'll meet on the other side Shino. I will be waiting." She said as the door appeared behind her.

"I won't let you wait for long." Shino said.

After everyone left, he took a deep breath, "I guess it's not my time yet." He said before a door of his own opened up and he walked through it.

To say his awakening was met with tears would be a massive understatement.

Now, Shino could be found standing in front of two stone slaps that were placed on top of a hill, surrounded by similar slaps. He was standing in front of his parents' graves.

"Hey…Mom…Dad." Shino awkwardly greeted. "I brought flowers." He said showing the bouquet of violets in his hands. "Violets actually…I still remember how much mom love them, you would always keep some in your room and get angry whenever I tried to take one." Shino laughed lightly but his laugh quickly died out replaced by a sad expression. "I'm sorry I never came to visit…I was just…." Shino found it hard to say the words and tears were forming at the edges of his eyes.

That's when a hand was placed on his shoulder as Itsuka stood by his side, she gave him a smile that managed to make him smile too. He took a deep breath and tried again.

"I was ashamed of myself…you guys gave me everything and supported me all the way. But what did I give you but hardship and eventually death. I didn't want you to see what I've become. However, things changed, I met many people that cared for me when I didn't care for myself. Feared for my safety when I endangered myself." Shino looked at Itsuka and held her hand tight in his, "Loved me when I hated myself. But through all of this, I never stopped thinking about you guys and how I wished you were by my side. To be honest, I can't help but blame myself for what happened. No matter what people tell me, part of me will allows question if I wasn't born would your lives have been better?"

Itsuka looked at Shino with worry, but his next words calmed her. "But now I know that death is not an apology. I have many people that my death would hurt and wouldn't to hurt them. If I truly want to redeem myself, then I must work hard earn it. This way, when we finally do meet, at least I can say that did my best." Shino said with smile through the tears.

"Oh! Right dad, I decided to become a hero and I'm studying at U.A. too, can you believe it? I even took your old name just like you told me to. And mom, I took to making wooden figure just like you taught me, I found my own style and I'm earning money selling the figure I made. Remember when I asked for a little brother? Now I have many younger siblings that I take care of. I met a girl and fell in love with her." Shino looked at Itsuka who took a step forward before bowing down.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Kazushige. My name is Itsuka Kendo and I'm your son's girlfriend. He has been a wonderful person and a great boyfriend, I hope you're proud." Itsuka introduced herself.

"She's also studying to be hero, I have many friends too at U.A., there a lot of thing a want to talk to you about. So I hope you don't mind." Shino sat down and started telling his stories with Itsuka right beside him the whole time as he made up for the lost time he never got to have with his parents.

After he was done, he and Itsuka stood up and prepared to leave. "I promise to visit more often, if you don't mind that is. I don't know if you're watching me or not, but I hope I can make you proud."

Shino had a hard life much of it he had to endure much of it alone as he walked on his road to redemption, but doesn't have to walk alone anymore. He finally has companions that will stick with him to the better end. And as he and Itsuka walked away, two ghostly figures stood at the hill watching him and smiling.

**The end.**

**Thank you for reading.**

**A/N: I gave the story an open ending in case I wanted to return to it and do a season two or something. But that would probably come out along with the season two of no game no life if you catch my drift. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter and this story and I wish you all the best of luck in whatever your doing in your life.**


End file.
